The Tapestry of Time
by teddylonglong
Summary: A time travelling relative rescues Harry from the Dursleys. With Snape as his guardian, he travels to different times, where he attends Hogwarts together with Tom Riddle, Minerva McGonagall and Poppy Pomfrey. AU, partly OOC, mentioning of abuse!Dursleys only in first chapter, adoption / Animagus / time travel story that extends through several epochs
1. Chapter 1

**The Tapestry of Time  
****by teddylonglong**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes!_

**_If you don't like AU stories or un-betaed stories, please don't read this!  
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, mentioning of abuse!Dursleys, multiple time travel_**

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**Chapter 1**

Six-year-old Harry Potter was curled up on his mattress, listening to the sounds coming from the hall. '_Ouch_,' he thought in desperation. '_I want my Mummy back._' He had been feeling very achy now for a few days, ever since he had done something that must have upset Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He didn't even know what the whole ruckus had been about; however, Uncle Vernon had hurt him badly and locked him into the cupboard. Petunia used to open the cupboard door twice a day, so that he could use the bathroom; however, Harry couldn't muster the energy to drag himself upstairs, even if he felt very thirsty and badly wanted to sip some water. '_Maybe I'm going to die_,' he mused, wondering, '_Will I meet my parents when I die? I'd love to be together with my Mummy. I wished I had someone who loved me even if I'm a good for nothing freak_.'

_~ One thousand years earlier ~_

The four Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were gathered around the table in front of the large fireplace in Helga's and Salazar's quarters. The living room of the Potions Master and the Healer were the two couples' favourite place to enjoy the quiet of the evening after the students had finally retired to their Houses with the beginning of curfew. Opposite of the fireplace was a huge tapestry that covered the complete wall and listed all four Founders' ancestors up to Great Merlin in the past and the descendants down to one thousand years into the future. Each of them was displayed with a picture either of a face or, in case that the person was an Animagus, with the symbol of their Animagus form. Additionally, a list of their special achievements or problems was displayed next to the picture, and the information of the heirs was even updated randomly. Further information could be retrieved at wand tap. Even if they all knew the tapestry by heart, they still loved to watch it, but most frequently their eyes wandered to the bottom of the tapestry, to where the youngest descendants were displayed, especially since at one point the two lines of the Slytherin-Hufflepuff line and the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw line met, when Helga's and Salazar's many times great granddaughter Lily married Rowena's and Godric's great grandson James. Their offspring, Harry Potter, as well as his cousin Dudley were the last children displayed on the tapestry.

While Salazar told Godric about a prank potion, which he had added to his little snakes' dinner that evening, so that they would be wearing snake heads in the morning as soon as they ate anything, Helga let her eyes wander over the tapestry, reading in utmost concern the information that was given for her youngest many times great grandson, Harry Potter.

"Rowena, I believe it's time for me to travel very far into the future," she said worriedly, pointing to the picture of the water phoenix that represented Harry.

"Oh no," Rowena exclaimed upon noticing that the picture was flashing red, knowing that it meant mortal peril. "Take care, Helga."

_~ One thousand years later ~_

Harry slowly drifted in and out of fevered dreams, before he all of a sudden jerked awake when he felt a tingling sensation run up and down his achy body. '_What are they doing to me?_' he wondered in confusion as he slowly tried to open his sore eyes just a little bit.

"Hello Harry," he heard a soft voice speak to him, just when he took in his surroundings, seeing a woman in strange clothing that looked like a long, white one-piece leaning over him.

'_She must be an angel_,' Harry thought and asked, "Hello, am I dead? Can you take me to my Mummy please?"

The angel smiled at him and said in a soft voice, "No Harry, you're not dead, but you're hurt badly, and I'd like to make you feel better. Will you come with me to Hogwarts? I am Helga, by the way."

"Yeah," Harry whispered, feeling too miserable to care what Hogwarts was.

"First of all, I need you to drink a few potions; otherwise, you wouldn't survive the travel," Helga said gently. She carefully steadied his back as she pulled him into a slightly sitting position, before he held a small phial to his lips, instructing him to swallow.

'_I'm not allowed to have medicine, because I'm a freak_,' Harry's mind screamed, but he completely lacked the energy to care what was happening, and the angel was so nice, and her soft, cold touch felt so good to his burning skin that he obediently swallowed, sighing in relief when he felt the effects after a few seconds. '_I'm feeling much better now_,' he thought in surprise, looking wide-eyed at the angel in front of him.

"Harry, this will feel uncomfortable for a moment, but it'll be over soon," the angel told him, before she gently hugged him and instructed him to hold on to her tightly.

時代を示す絨緞

An instant later, Harry felt the world turn around faster and faster, and just when the world was on the verge of completely turning black, the movement stopped, and he felt himself being placed on something comfortably soft.

"Harry, I'll be back in a few minutes," the angel said in a soothing voice, placing something cold on his forehead.

"Feels good," Harry mumbled as he succumbed to the potions and drifted off into a much needed healing sleep.

Helga smiled at the sight of the boy, who was much too small and malnourished for his age and seemed like a tiny figure in Salazar's and her large bed. She quietly left the room. '_Let's see what I can do for you, sweetie_,' she thought as she returned to the living room and took a close look at the tapestry, wondering, '_Is any other of our descendants still alive in this time?_' She tapped the tapestry at a certain point, causing it to show three other persons. 'Tom Marvolo Riddle, Severus Snape and Dudley Dursley,' she read. '_Dursley is his cousin; he won't be of any help_,' Helga thought turning to the first name on the tapestry. The information given showed that Tom was a Dark Lord and mass murderer. '_Oh right, he's the one Rowena told me about_,' Helga remembered and let out a long sigh as she read the entry next to the magical lynx that displayed Severus Snape. '_He is the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin here_,' she realised in delight and relief. '_He will help the little one_.'

Having no idea where to find the Potions Master one thousand years into the future, Helga decided to approach the Headmaster's office, knowing that Godric's old, round office had still been at its usual place at least three hundred years before, when she had visited one of her great grandchildren in need.

Helga greeted the gargoyle, which opened immediately at her sight, and politely knocked at the door of the Headmaster's office. "Good morning, sir. I am sorry to disturb you," she said and introduced herself, "Hufflepuff" as she held her hand out for the Headmaster.

"Albus Dumbledore," the old wizard replied in a kind voice and motioned for her to take a seat, before he made himself comfortable behind his desk.

Helga unobtrusively let her eyes wander around Godric's office, noticing that Fawkes was back. '_Three hundred years ago he wasn't here_,' she mused, before he was brought back to reality when Dumbledore queried, "What can I do for you, Ms. Hufflepuff?"

"I am looking for Severus Snape. He is one of the last living relatives of Harry Potter, and he needs to take the child in. I found out that Harry was abused and neglected by his relatives," Helga said in a firm voice, realising that the Headmaster did not like what she said at all, since his face turned to an angry grimace.

"Ms. Hufflepuff, I don't know where you received the information that our Professor Snape was a relative of Harry Potter," Dumbledore replied thoughtfully, absentmindedly popping a lemon drop into his mouth, a gesture that caused Helga to inwardly groan.

'_How can an old wizard eat something so unhealthy?_' she wondered, missing Dumbledore's next words, before he continued, "Therefore it is important that he remains with Petunia Dursley."

"Headmaster," Helga replied sternly. "I will not allow the child to remain in a household that clearly abuses and neglects him. When I came to rescue him, he asked me if he was dead and if I could take him to his mother. You have the choice, Professor. Either you introduce me to Severus Snape, so that he can become the child's guardian and care for him, or I will take little Harry with me. He is my many times great grandson, and I'm not willing to let him suffer like that."

Dumbledore stared at her in apparent surprise. "Excuse me, Ms. Hufflepuff, but who exactly are you?" he asked bluntly. "Are you in any way related to the Founder of Hogwarts, Helga Hufflepuff?"

"I **am** Helga Hufflepuff," Helga returned in a voice that clearly showed the Headmaster that she was getting angry.

"One moment, please," Dumbledore replied calmly and called Twinkle, his personal house-elf. "Twinkle, fetch Professors McGonagall and Snape instantly."

While they were waiting for the Gryffindor and Slytherin Heads to arrive, Dumbledore poured the Founder a cup of tea, unaware of the fact that Helga eyed him with suspicion. '_I'm sure the tea is laced with Veritaserum_,' Helga thought, '_because he doesn't believe who I am, but I don't care_.' With an indifferent expression, she slowly drank her tea, unable to verify or deny her suspicion, because of the different taste the tea had in this time.

時代を示す絨緞

When the two professors arrived and Dumbledore introduced her as Helga Hufflepuff, she could immediate sense someone try to enter her mind. "I suggest that whoever just tried to use Legilimency on me, takes a lesson with my husband, Salazar Slytherin. He is a Master of Legilimency, and you wouldn't even notice if he entered your mind," she said calmly, wishing that she had brought her husband or at least one of her best friends, because she was the one who normally tried to avoid conversations that were not completely harmonic. '_I'm really bad at leading discussions with others that are not solely concerning my healing area, but I just have to fight for little Harry_,' she thought in determination, before she once again explained the reason for her visit.

"I am related to Harry Potter?" Snape queried, quirking an eyebrow at her in disbelief.

"Yes, you are my many times great grandson, just like Harry," Helga replied gently. "The two of you are cousins through Harry's mother's side."

"Do you have any kind of proof?" Snape asked, glancing at the Headmaster.

"Of course," Helga said. "In Salazar's and my quarters is a huge tapestry, the Tapestry of Time, which contains each of our descendants. As my great grandson, you are very welcome to visit and see for yourself. I need to return and check on little Harry anyway."

"Your quarters?" Dumbledore enquired with apparent interest. "Where might they be?"

Helga smirked. "I am very sorry, Headmaster, but our quarters are charmed to only be visible and accessible to my descendants and their wedded ones," she said apologetically, casting Severus a questioning look.

"Thank you very much, Professor," Severus said in determination; "however, even if related, I am not able to take Potter in."

Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "I am sorry, Severus, but I must ask that you become Harry's new guardian." Ignoring Snape's gasp, he continued, "Professor Hufflepuff already took him away from his relatives and is threatening to take him with her to the past if you don't agree."

"Professor Hufflepuff," McGonagall suddenly began to speak, "Would it perhaps be possible if I became the boy's guardian? I was his parents' Head of House and a good friend of his mother after her graduation."

"Thank you very much for offering; however, I'd prefer that little Harry grew up with a blood relative, especially since he has been abused so badly," Helga replied in a gentle but firm voice.

時代を示す絨緞

When Harry woke up, he was alone and still lying on the soft, comfortable bed. '_Nothing hurts anymore_,' he thought in disbelief. '_Perhaps I am dead, even if the angel said I wasn't_.' He slowly let his eyes wander around the room that was decorated with antique looking furniture, until his gaze fell on the small bookshelf. '_Books_,' he thought in absolute delight. He loved books; however, he had never owned one, and if he tried to borrow one of Dudleys', he had been punished badly. Hastily glancing around to confirm that he was still alone, he crouched in front of the shelf, pulling a small, burgundy coloured book out. He carefully felt the soft leather cover of the book, and a small smile began to play on his lips. Unfortunately, he was not able to decipher the letters on the first pages in the book, but as he turned the pages, he found out that they slowly changed into readable text later in the book. '_Hogwarts Through the Ages_' was written on top of every page. '_Maybe that's the book's title, but what do the numbers mean?_' he wondered, looking at the bottom of the pages that displayed numbers like '1156', '1247', and '1338' in confusion. '_Books are the best_,' he mused. '_Everyone loves books_.' Harry was still smiling when he finally returned to the bed, not wanting to upset the kind angel, who had rescued him from the Dursleys.

時代を示す絨緞

By the time Helga led Severus into her bedroom, Harry was not in the bed let alone asleep anymore.

"Where is the boy?" Severus snarled. "Do you have any proof that he was here?"

"Watch your tone, young man," Helga responded in a stern voice, completely neglecting the fact that Severus was about the same age as herself. '_Well, he is undeniably related to Salazar_,' she thought, inwardly grinning as she looked at the empty bed in disbelief. "The book," she said, pointing to the book that was lying on the pillow. "He must have been reading a book, before he left."

Helga's eyes narrowed as she took a closer look at the book, which had a wine red leather cover with a pattern of a water phoenix covering the front. Of course that was nothing all too special; however, the phoenix looked exactly like Harry's image on the tapestry, even the eyes had the special emerald colour of Harry's, and they moved slowly until they met her own. She hesitantly reached for the book and opened it, feeling under her hands how the pages slightly wriggled as if they were tickly. '_Is that possible?_' she wondered in confusion, absentmindedly caressing one of the empty pages of the book.

"Excuse me, Madam, but I have other things to do," Severus drawled, quirking an eyebrow at the Founder.

Deciding to not share her suspicions for the time being, Helga apologized profusely and promised to send a house-elf to Severus as soon as Harry returned.

"Very well. Please inform Cicero, my personal house-elf," Severus instructed the witch.

Helga carefully laid the book back onto the pillow and accompanied Severus out of her quarters, before she once again approached her bedroom and waved her wand over the book, carefully as not to frighten the child. '_It is Harry_,' she realised and slid her wand back into her robe pocket, before she took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Harry," she addressed the book in a gentle voice. "You're a very powerful wizard. I have never seen nor heard of anyone, who is capable of changing into objects. Congratulations, my boy. You did that extremely well."

To Helga's surprise and amusement, the upper right corner of the book slightly moved into the shape of a cat's ear so as if it was intensely listening to her words, only to change back to normal as soon as she quietened.

'_Very impressive_,' Helga thought to herself but refrained herself from commending the child even more. "Now will you change back into your human form?" she asked in a soft voice. "The wizard, who was here with me an instant ago, is Professor Snape, your uncle."

It was as if the book flinched back at her last word, and Helga hurried to explain, "He is not like your Muggle uncle. He is a wizard, and he knows who you are. I brought him here, because I want him to become your guardian and raise you here at Hogwarts, where you can grow up together with many other magical children; however, you need to be in your human form in order to speak with him."

The book remained quiet. '_Oh well; how would he be able to communicate with me if he was a book?_' Helga mused in exasperation, giving the book an expectant look.

時代を示す絨緞

'_The nice lady brought me here, and so far no one hurt me here_,' Harry thought. '_I really should try to change back_.' He wished himself to be back to his normal human form, hoping that it worked, and an instant later, the small boy was lying on the bed. He quickly sat up and shyly looked at the older witch as he said in a barely audible voice, "I'm sorry, Madam. I don't know how I did that. I was just admiring the book on the shelf over there."

Helga followed his eyes to the burgundy red book on the shelf and smiled warmly at the child. "Like I said earlier, you did that very well. You'll probably be able to transform into other objects as well. However, you must be very careful that you don't hurt yourself, and you mustn't do that too often, because it affords a lot of magic, and you won't feel well if you use too much magic at once."

"All right," Harry agreed in a small voice, shyly averting his eyes to the floor.

"Now, are you up to meeting Professor Snape?" Helga asked kindly and, seeing Harry hesitantly nod, called Cicero. She introduced Harry to Cicero and explained that he was Professor Snape's house-elf, noticing that Harry stared at the small elf with interest.

A few minutes later, the portrait that was guarding the quarters informed them that Professor Snape wanted to visit. "Let him in," Helga replied gently, noticing from the corner of her eyes how Harry unobtrusively tried to move a little bit away from the edge of the bed. "It's all right, sweetie; Professor Snape won't hurt you," Helga said in a soft voice, just when Severus entered the room.

'_The devil_!' was Harry's first thought as he envisioned the man, who was completely clothed in black, just like the devil had looked in the story, which they had read at school a few months ago. However, he relaxed somewhat when the tall wizard addressed him in a baritone voice that held no malice.

"Potter," the man acknowledged his presence and stared down at him.

"Hello, sir," Harry replied shyly, not daring to ask if the man was the devil. Instead, he looked questioningly at the angel.

"Harry," Helga spoke up in a soft voice, "Professor Snape has agreed to become your guardian. He is the Potions professor here at Hogwarts." Ignoring the grim expression the Potions Master was wearing, she turned to her colleague and offered, "Professor, since both of you are Salazar's and my descendants, feel free to live in our quarters together with Harry."

"No thank you." Severus slightly inclined his head. "I prefer to remain in my own quarters, and the house-elves will easily be able to add another room."

"I will ask the house-elves to connect your living room with my guest room, which will be Harry's room from now on," Helga replied in an equally firm voice. "Professor, if you don't mind, I'd like to take both of you to my own time for a few days, so that the two of you can get to know each other, away from your duties here at Hogwarts in this time."

The Potions Master raised an eyebrow. "How will I be able to teach my classes tomorrow morning?" he queried, glancing at the Founder.

Helga chuckled as she explained, "That won't be a problem. I will show you how to use the Tapestry of Time for travelling."

'_Time travel?_' Severus thought in disbelief. '_If she really is who she seems to be, it must be possible. But travelling one thousand years into the past together with Potter's offspring? Am I delirious?_' he wondered, unobtrusively letting his right hand wander into his robe pocket to pinch his leg. '_Ouch; I must be awake_,' he realised. '_Oh well, I'll trust the Founder for the time being. Meeting Salazar Slytherin would be a real treat_.' He glanced at the boy, who was looking from one to the other in apparent anxiousness. Severus sighed as he slowly spoke up.

"Please allow me to finish the school year first. The summer holidays are going to commence in a week's time, and until then I will be able to look after the child," he said in his soft, baritone voice, so as not to frighten the boy.

"Very well," Helga replied gently, apparently relieved that the Potions Master had made his decision. She motioned for Severus and Harry to follow her into the living room, grinning when the two wizards looked at the huge tapestry in obvious amazement.

"This is an enormous piece of magic," Severus said with appreciation. "I never knew that something like this existed."

Helga smiled. "No one except for our family and that of the Gryffindor-Ravenclaws knows. Roxana Ravenclaw, who is the older sister of my colleague, Rowena Ravenclaw, charmed it for Salazar's and my wedding. She is a Charms Mistress. Unfortunately, she refuses to teach at Hogwarts."

'_I am related to all these people?_' Severus mused. '_I can't believe it_.' His eyes wandered to the entry right next to the image of the lynx, his own Animagus form. '_Lily_,' he thought, still unable to believe that they were related, even if through a connection far into the past. He was brought back to reality when Helga spoke up again.

"You merely have to tap your wand at a person, whose time you want to travel to, and have to think of a date, as accurate as possible," the Founder explained. "Let me warn you though. The time travel is very strenuous and affords a huge amount of magic, depending on the distance of course. The farther you travel back or forth, the more magic you need. Therefore, Harry will not be able to travel on his own yet."

"So what date would I have to choose to travel into your time?" Severus asked with interest.

Helga remained thoughtful for an instant, before she replied, "Well, I came here from the third of December, 996. However, I suggest that you choose a date during the following summer, so that my colleagues and I will have more time for you than we'd have in the middle of the school year."

The two adults agreed that Severus and Harry should travel to the first of June, 997, which would be exactly nine hundred and ninety years in the past. Before she left, Helga spoke with Harry in a quiet voice to make sure the boy understood that he was going to meet her again in a week's time.

Severus observed in amazement how the Founder tapped her wand at her own picture, mumbled something that sounded like a date, and vanished instantly. '_This is really interesting_,' he thought, before he cleared his mind and turned to the boy, realising that once again Harry had vanished from the sight.

'_Oh no; becoming the guardian of such a troublemaker is exactly what I needed_,' he thought in annoyance, groaning as he realised that he should have asked Helga where the child had been hiding earlier.

_tbc..._


	2. Chapter 2

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

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**Chapter 2**

'_The devil doesn't like me_,' Harry mused, sensing Severus' feelings, although he had spoken to him in a not unfriendly voice. '_He doesn't want to be my guardian. I'll better try to be out of his way_.' While the angel vanished into thin air, Harry stared at the floor that was covered with several smaller and larger carpets. Each of them held a different pattern, and Harry smiled upon realising that in many of them animals were displayed. An instant later, a small carpet with the pattern of several small cats was lying on the floor at the point, where Harry had stood an instant before.

'_Ouch_,' Harry thought in shock, when the devil stepped on him, muttering to himself in an upset voice. '_Maybe changing into a carpet was not the best thing to do. A book might be safer. Why is he angry now?_' he wondered. '_He should be glad that I'm gone_.' He observed how Severus stepped through the nearest door, leaving the door ajar.

時代を示す絨緞

Severus crossed the room, which Helga had pointed out as her guestroom earlier, and walked through the newly made connecting door into his quarters, where he let himself sink into his favourite armchair to ponder his situation. '_This is just stupid_,' he mused, letting a hand run through his silky, long hair. '_I am the guardian of Harry Potter, who seems to like playing hide and seek with me, and I'm invited to make a time travel to meet Salazar Slytherin_.' He let out a long sigh, noticing with a glance at his wrist watch that it was already beyond dinnertime. "Cicero," he called his house-elf. "If you're able to find the boy, you can tell him that he has to make an appearance if he wants to eat dinner," he instructed the elf, who nodded in understanding.

"Yes Master Severus, I will tell the little one," he promised and popped away, only to return alone a few minutes later. "I am sorry, Master Severus, but I cannot find little Master Harry. I can sense that he is still in Mistress Helga's and Master Salazar's quarters; however, I don't know where he is."

"Very well." Severus nodded at Cicero, knowing that he could completely trust the elf. "Please bring me a sandwich then."

"Of course, Master Severus," Cicero replied and popped away.

Deep in thoughts, Severus ate his chicken teriyaki sandwich, wondering where the boy could have gone. He was brought back to reality when the fireplace flared and the Headmaster's face appeared in the flames.

"Severus, would you mind coming to my office for a moment?" Dumbledore requested kindly and retreated, before Severus had even a chance to refuse.

'_Manipulative old coot_,' Severus thought, although he could not deny that it had not been the Headmaster who had chosen him to become the boy's guardian. He grudgingly stepped into the fireplace, heading to Dumbledore's office. Seeing that the Headmaster and his Deputy looked at him in expectation, he explained about his agreement with the Founder.

"A travel to the time of the Founders sounds very interesting," Dumbledore said gently, his eyes twinkling merrily. "Please take good care of Harry."

"And of yourself as well," McGonagall added, glaring at the Headmaster.

Severus frowned. "I will, provided that the boy stops playing hide and seek with me," he muttered and told his colleagues about Harry's habit to hide.

"Anyway, we need to pay the Dursleys a visit in order to make them sign the guardianship parchments in order to officially transfer the guardianship to you," Dumbledore said, thoughtfully popping a lemon drop into his mouth.

"Albus, I will go," McGonagall spoke up in determination. "I really want to exchange a few words with Petunia."

"All right; Severus, please accompany Minerva to the Dursleys," Dumbledore replied firmly, looking at the Potions Master in expectation.

"Very well then," Severus grudgingly agreed and turned to his former teacher. "Minerva, do you want to go right away?"

"Yes, let's get over with it as soon as possible," the Scottish lioness replied, and Severus was glad that he was not the cause of the anger that swung in her voice. Together, the two colleagues walked down to the Apparition border, ready to deal with Lily's sister and her family.

時代を示す絨緞

Harry was lying on the floor in front of the Tapestry, wondering what he was going to do now. '_Maybe I should change back. Otherwise, the devil might become even angrier_,' he thought, when he saw Severus leave the room. He moved a bit to the side, so that he could see into the room, noticing to his relief that the man left the door open. Harry did not want to be alone. Even if he couldn't talk with the devil as long as he was a carpet, he needed the reassurance that someone was there, someone who did not think of him as a freak, even if he didn't like him. '_No, he is not the devil_,' he suddenly realised, remembering that the man had said something about teaching and the angel had told him that he was a professor. '_So maybe this is a school_,' he mused, lifting one of the edges in order to be able to glance through the window; however, he couldn't see anything apart from blue sky. Instead, one of the other carpets began to hiss at him.

(Behave yourself. Carpets do not move up and down,) an older, slightly worn out carpet with the design of a basilik lightly admonished him.

(Oh, I'm sorry,) Harry whispered back, realising in shock that the carpets were able to communicate with each other. '_That's what I heard when I was a book earlier_,' he realised. '_I heard the books on the bookshelf whisper to each other_.'

Somehow, it was a little boring to be a carpet. On the other hand, Harry was not sure what to do instead. '_I should change in something else that makes it possible for me to explore the place, but I better stay out of the professor's way_,' he mused, wondering if he would be able to change into a fly.

However, before he could make a decision, he slowly drifted off to sleep, only waking up in the morning, when a beautiful bird appeared with a huge flash, landing on top of him. In spite of the weight that was pressing against his stomach, Harry suddenly felt very happy, although he had no idea why.

#Hello Harry,# the bird trilled, causing Harry to whirl up a bit of dust in shock. '_Who is that, and why does he know my name?_' he wondered.

#I am Fawkes, and I'm the Headmaster's familiar,# the bird introduced himself. #The grumpy one said you were hiding, which is why I came to look for you. I took the liberty of bonding to you, which is why you're able to understand my babbling, although you haven't transformed into a phoenix yet. You can try to think back to me and tell me what you're doing here, young nestling.#

'Hello Fawkes,' Harry obediently thought to the phoenix, wondering if it would really be possible for the bird to understand his thoughts. He slowly told the bird why he was hiding from the professor, who for some reason seemed to dislike him.

Fawkes remained thoughtful for an instant, before he suggested, #Maybe you should bond to the grumpy one, so that you'll be able to communicate with each other. He wouldn't be able to dislike you anymore if you were bonded to him.#

'Is that true?' Harry asked with interest. 'I'd like that, but how do I bond to someone?'

Fawkes chuckled as he replied, #As a carpet, you'd only be able to bond with a moth. I'd have to do it for you. The only problem is that I can only bond you if you're in the same room or at least I'm able to see both of you.#

Harry began to move a little bit in the direction of the door, through which the professor had vanished before. 'Are you sure that he won't detest me even more if he finds out?'

#I am certain,# Fawkes promised, chuckling at Harry's attempt to move under his weight. #You better change into something else like a fly or if you can't transform into an animal into a piece of dust. The grumpy one would surely notice if all of a sudden a new carpet moved into his living room.#

'_A fly_,' Harry thought and tried to change, but he didn't have wings and felt strangely uncomfortable. When he heard Fawkes giggle at his sight, he quickly changed back into the book. '_This is much more comfortable_,' he thought to himself.

#All right then, I'll flash you on top of the bookshelf in the grumpy one's living room,# Fawkes announced, grabbing the small book with his claws. Before Harry knew what happened, they flashed away in a small flash of fire.

Instants later, he found himself next to the phoenix on top of a bookshelf, and he heard the professor ask, "Fawkes, what are you doing here? Do you have a message for me?"

#I merely came to teach you some manners and bond your little one to you,# Fawkes trilled, causing Harry to hold his breath in anticipation.

'_How dare he speak in that tone with the professor?_' he thought, trying to press his covers as tightly together as possible.

However, the professor did not show any reaction to Fawkes' insult, and, glancing at Fawkes, Harry noticed that the bird was wearing a mischievous expression. He then continued to recite a text, which Harry did not fully comprehend. However, he could understand his and the professor's name.

When Harry had been feeling much happier since Fawkes had shown up, he suddenly realised that he now felt much calmer than before and strangely reassured. '_Probably I'm now bonded to the professor_,' he realised.

"Fawkes, what are you doing?" Snape asked in a stern voice, causing Harry to cringe.

#Tell him that you're bonded to him,# Fawkes instructed him. #You can think to him now.#

Harry hesitantly turned his thoughts to the professor. 'It's Harry, sir. I think Fawkes bonded me to you. I'm sorry, sir.' He tried to press his back against the wall, hoping that the professor wouldn't be able to recognise him.

"Harry," Snape spoke up in apparent surprise. "Where are you, child, and why are you hiding from me? Do you believe the whole world revolves around you?"

'No sir, I'm sorry, sir,' Harry replied, panicking. 'I'm just trying to stay out of your way, sir. I know that I'm a burden and a good for nothing freak, whom no one wants to see.'

Severus' eyes widened at the boy's telepathic words, and he remembered the previous evening, when Minerva and he had visited the Dursleys.

_**(Flashback)**_

Minerva and Severus swiftly approached the Dursleys' residence and rang the bell, glad when the door was opened instants later. "You!" Petunia shrieked at his sight, trying to shut the door in their faces. "The freak is gone, and I don't know where he is," she hissed, realising that Severus had been quickly enough to slid his foot behind the door to prevent her from closing the it.

"Mrs. Dursley," Minerva spoke up in the voice, which she normally used for students, who came for detention, "we know exactly where Harry is. We merely came to receive your signature on the guardianship parchments, so that Professor Snape can become his guardian. May we please come in and proceed with the formalities?"

Seeing that Petunia hesitated, Severus let his eyes wander around the neighbourhood. "Petunia, I suggest that you allow us in quickly. Your neighbours seem to take great interest in this matter."

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Petunia ushered them in and led them into the living room, where her husband and the whale of her son were sitting in front of the television. She grudgingly introduced them and told her husband the reason for their visit.

"I do not tolerate any more freaks in my house," Dursley shouted. "The good for nothing urchin is gone, and we don't know and don't want to know about it."

"Shut up, Dursley," Severus sneered. "You can deem yourself very lucky if we don't report you for child abuse. Now put your signatures under the parchment, so that we can relieve ourselves from your unpleasant company." He nodded towards the guardianship parchments, which Minerva pulled out of her robe pockets.

Vernon Dursley skimmed the parchment, and all of a sudden, a satisfied expression appeared on his face. "Why would I sign this?" he roared. "Get out of my house NOW."

Severus pulled his wand, smirking as he pointed it at Dudley, transforming the boy into a fat, brown rat. "Now Dursley," he said, threateningly pointing his wand at Vernon.

"How do I know that you change him back if I sign this?" Vernon bellowed, causing Severus to smirk.

"I won't leave him in this form if you comply," the tall man promised.

Petunia grabbed the parchment and put her signature under it, casting Vernon a pleading look. To her relief, her husband complied as well, and the parchment rolled up by itself and vanished into thin air.

"Now change my son back and leave," Vernon hissed, waving his fist into Severus' face.

"With pleasure," Severus returned and consecutively pointed his wand at Dudley, Petunia and Vernon.

Not even bothering to confirm his colleague's opinion, Severus transfigured the three Dursleys into toads. "If we leave the back door open, they'll have a real chance to survive," he commented dryly, surprised to see a contented expression spread over Minerva's face.

"Severus, that was excellent Transfiguration work," Minerva commended him gently, "although I believe that cockroaches would have been an even more adequate fate for them."

_**(End of flashback)**_

Severus sighed as he rose from his seat. "Mr. Potter," he said in a neutral voice, "You're neither a freak nor a good for nothing burden. Now, I need to attend breakfast together with everyone else in the Great Hall. If you decide to grace us with your presence, you may join me. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until lunchtime."

'Yes sir, thank you, sir,' Harry thought back, feeling very grateful at the man's kindness. '_He seems not even angry,_' he thought in relief.

"Stay here in my quarters," Severus instructed him, only to add, "I wouldn't want to search for you after you get lost in the dungeons." With that Severus left the room, not further taking notice of Fawkes.

Harry unconsciously let out a relieved sigh, causing Fawkes to make a few trills in amusement. #You really must have made bad experiences with your relatives. If you ask me, the grumpy one was much friendlier than usually. The bonding charm seems to have worked well. I don't think you have to hide anymore. Now, do you want me to show you to the kitchens to grab some breakfast? I could use a few nice phoenix treats. All this conversation has made me hungry.#

Harry was just pondering the matter, when Fawkes spoke up again. #Oh no, I'm sorry, nestling, but the old, beardy one just told me that he wants to send me on an errand. I have to go. I'll catch up with you later on.# With that the phoenix vanished, leaving a very disappointed Harry on the bookshelf.

'_What am I going to do now?_' Harry mused and after pondering the question for a while finally decided to explore his surroundings. '_I need something to climb down this shelf_,' he thought, looking at his red leather cover in amazement as he noticed that he had just grown two pairs of paws. He played with the paws for a moment, realising that he could pull them in and out as he wished.

Eventually, he felt tired after performing so much magic, and before he could even begin to explore Severus' quarters, he drifted off to sleep. It was a few hours later that he woke up to Severus' voice.

時代を示す絨緞

Severus couldn't help his thoughts drift off, while he tried to concentrate on his students' brewing. '_I'm not a good guardian_,' he thought. '_Potter neither had dinner last night nor breakfast this morning. On the other hand, it's his own fault_,' he tried to console himself. '_He is like his father, a pampered brat that assumes to be the centre of the world and have everyone search for him_.'

'_Harry is not pampered at all; on the contrary, he has been abused by his relatives, and you of all people should know the feeling_,' a small voice at the back of his head spoke up.

'_He definitely is an attention seeking brat. Why else would he hide, so that I have to search for him?_' Severus contradicted, feeling extremely annoyed when the small voice replied.

'_Because he wants to stay out of your way like he told you earlier_,' it informed him firmly.

'_Well, I will tell him what I did to Petunia and her husband. Maybe that and the hunger he must have will convince him to show himself. Perhaps he is able to turn himself invisible. His parents were both very powerful_,' Severus mused.

He was brought back to reality when one of the Gryffindor first years managed to make his cauldron explode all over his neighbour.

時代を示す絨緞

As soon as his last morning class ended, Severus strode back into his living room, sighing in exasperation as the boy was nowhere to be seen. "Potter," he spoke to the child, trusting that he was nearby. "I will not tolerate that you miss any more meals. Come here and join me for lunch in the Great Hall now if you do not want me to take you back to your relatives," he said in a threatening voice, glaring around the room in anger when no small boy appeared. A small movement on the bookshelf caught his attention, and from the corner of his eyes, Severus observed in disbelief how one of the books from the top shelf began to climb down the edge of the shelf.

In shock, Severus stared at the book, before he suddenly recognised it as the book, which he had already seen in Helga's bedroom the previous day. Therefore, he was not overly surprised when the book, once it reached the floor, changed into a child.

'_Leave it to Potter to be able to do things that no one else is capable of_,' he thought in annoyance, quirking an eyebrow at the child, who stood in front of him and began to apologize.

"Wait a moment, Mr. Potter," he interrupted the boy's rambling and waved his wand at him, transfiguring the much too large and worn out Muggle attire into black trousers, a green polo neck shirt and black robes. "Very well then, let's go," he said, motioning for the boy to follow him out into the dungeons.

時代を示す絨緞

Harry glanced at his new outfit with amazement and disbelief, remembering what the angel had told him about magic the previous day. He quietly followed the professor upstairs, having to run in order to catch up with the tall man's fast pace. They entered the Great Hall, and Harry tried to hide behind Severus' robes at the sight of several hundred students, who quickly filled the large room. He hesitantly obeyed when Severus instructed him to sit between an older witch and himself.

"Hello Harry," his neighbour greeted him friendly. "I am Minerva McGonagall," she said. "We're all very glad to have you here, sweetie. I knew you well when you were a baby, and I was a good friend of your parents," she introduced herself.

Harry hesitantly ate his lunch, surprised that he was not only allowed to sit at the table together with everyone else, but that the kind witch next to him placed a little of everything on his plate, instructing him to eat as much as he could.

When they returned to the dungeons after lunch, Severus asked him, "Mr. Potter, are you capable of reading?"

"Yes sir, I love to read," Harry replied hesitantly, knowing that he wasn't very good at it yet.

"Very well then, I suggest that you read this," Severus said, pressing a book into Harry's hands, before he ushered him into the classroom and instructed him to sit on an empty seat in the first row.

'_First Introduction to Potions_,' Harry read the title with interest and immediately engrossed himself in his work. The book informed him about magical and non magical herbs and other ingredients, which were used in the most common potions, and Harry found it very interesting, although there were many words, which he could barely read let alone understand. He was so engrossed in his reading that he did not even notice the students leave the classroom after a double period until Severus addressed him.

"Harry," the professor spoke up in a voice that held no malice, "do you understand what you're reading?"

Harry looked up, his cheeks red from excitement. "No, sir," he admitted truthfully. "But what I understood was very interesting. Thank you so much, sir, for allowing me to read this."

時代を示す絨緞

'_Is he mocking me?_' Severus wondered, glaring at the boy with suspicion. However, the child's expression was so eager and innocent that he realised, as unbelievable as it was, that Harry indeed enjoyed his book. "Very well then, shall we return to my quarters and see what you did not understand?" he heard himself ask, wondering in disbelief what made him be so friendly to the boy, who disgustingly resembled his childhood enemy. He led Harry back into his living room, where he sat in his favourite armchair, motioning the boy to sit on the sofa. Observing how the child gingerly sat on the very edge of the sofa, he let out a long sigh.

"Mr. Potter, you're not at your relatives' home, and they are not your guardians anymore. Therefore, you do not have to follow the rules, which they set up for you anymore. After dinner, I shall set up new rules for you, which apply from now on," he said in a firm but neutral voice, inwardly groaning when the child cast him a frightened look.

During the remaining time until dinner, Severus and Harry discussed what Harry had read about earlier. Severus realised in surprise that Harry seemed to have understood more than he had imagined, and apparently the boy was really interested in the subject. '_Oh well, Lily was extremely adept at potions_,' he thought, feeling relieved that the boy had inherited that trait, before he remembered that Harry was a descendant from Salazar Slytherin just like himself. '_All right, then it's no wonder_,' he realised, making a mental note to buy a children's book about potions as well as a child's potions kit at the first opportunity.

時代を示す絨緞

Harry was over the moon with joy. '_I am allowed to ask questions_,' he thought happily, listening with interest as the Potions Master patiently explained everything, which he had not comprehended as he tried to read the book. '_This is a bit similar to cooking_,' he noticed excitedly, '_but only a bit_.' Harry was very disappointed when the professor ended the session, pointing out that it was time for dinner.

"We'll continue this tomorrow after my last afternoon class," Severus promised, noticing Harry's saddened expression. "As I told you earlier, you are not to miss any meals."

"Yes sir," Harry replied obediently, toying with the thought of changing into something again. '_There are so many students, and all of them are looking at me_,' he thought, feeling a bit apprehensive at the unwanted attention.

However, the point that he had to attend meals appeared again in the rules, which the professor set up after dinner, pointing his wand at an empty parchment, which filled with easy to read hand writing. Harry hesitantly took the parchment that Severus placed in front of him and began to read.

_1. You will obey to your guardian._

_2. You will attend all meals together with me either in the Great Hall or in my quarters._

_3. You will only enter my bedroom or the potions lab after knocking and being called in. _

_4. You will not transform into a book and make me search for you._

"All right, sir," Harry said, putting the parchment back on the table. '_It can't be worse than at the Dursleys_,' he thought, feeling very glad to have a new home.

Severus quirked an eyebrow and said, "We shall add further points to these rules if necessary. Now I believe that it's time for you to go to bed." He led Harry to the bathroom and said, "Take a shower, and in the meantime, I'll conjure pyjamas for you. Tomorrow, Professor McGonagall does not have classes in the morning, and she promised to take you shopping. Do you have any belongings left at your relatives' home?"

"No sir. I don't have anything," Harry replied in a barely audible voice. "Thank you so much, sir, for becoming my guardian."

'_The professor is much nicer than Uncle Vernon_,' he thought happily as he drifted off to sleep a short while later, not noticing that Severus came into his room and properly tucked him in later on.

時代を示す絨緞

During the next few days, Harry did not transform in any objects anymore in order to not annoy his guardian, although he sometimes toyed with the thought. However, on the last day of classes, something happened that made him forget about his good intentions.

_tbc..._


	3. Chapter 3

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Harry felt that the atmosphere was very different from what it had been during the last few days, and he questioningly looked at Minerva, who was sitting at his left side as usual.

"They're all excited, because they're going to travel home to their families over the holidays," the older witch explained in a gentle voice. "They're going to have two and a half months of holidays, before school commences again in September."

It was half-way through the main course that the first teachers' heads changed into ducks heads. "Apparently someone has put a joke potion into the food or drinks at the Head table," Professor Snape informed him quietly, and Harry observed in shock how the teachers' heads changed into ducks' heads. '_Oh no_,' he thought, panicking but couldn't prevent his own head from changing as well. '_This doesn't feel good, but if I transform into something, will I end up where my hands are, or where my feet are, or where my bum is?_' he wondered for an instant, before he realised that he couldn't find a reply to the question. '_I want to be a spoon on the table_,' he thought intensely, while he made his right hand a fist, unconsciously trying to push all of his energy into his hand. An instant later, he found himself in the form of a small spoon, lying right next to his table. '_This is better_,' he thought, '_now no one can stare at me anymore_.'

Unfortunately, Harry had not realised that the main course was nearly over, and all of a sudden, he found himself being whirled around together with lots of dirty forks and knives. When the fast movement stopped, he was lying on a huge table in what seemed to be a very large kitchen. '_Is that the Hogwarts kitchen Fawkes told me about?_' he wondered, glancing around in awe. Three house-elves were standing in front of the table, waving their hands over him and the other dirty objects. Suddenly, one of the elves picked him up and threw him on a different plate, where he was surrounded by small spoons just like himself. '_Ouch_,' he thought, wondering how he would be able to rub his head in that form. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself back in the Great Hall.

However, he noticed soon that he was not on the Head table anymore. '_I'm a desert spoon on one of the students' tables_,' he realised in shock, when he felt himself being picked up and stuck into a small bowl filled with strawberry ice-cream, before he ended up in a student's mouth.

'_Oh no, this is disgusting_,' Harry thought, terrified, and proceeded to roll the tip of the spoon backwards like an old sardine can in order to prevent the girl from eating any more ice-cream.

The girl looked at the spoon in dismay. "Oh, those stupid firsties and their accidental magic. It's the same every year," she said, kicking him aside.

During the next two minutes, spoon Harry wandered from one hand into the next, and he felt more terrified by the minute, resolving to never ever change into a spoon again. '_How am I going to get out of this?_' he wondered, panicking.

Suddenly remembering that Fawkes had instructed him to call him whenever he was in trouble, Harry mind thought to the phoenix, 'Fawkes, can you help me, please?'

An instant later, Fawkes appeared in a flash of flames, and Harry felt himself being picked up by the bird's claws. The phoenix took him to his own room, and Harry sighed in relief as he recognised the familiar surroundings. 'Thank you so much, Fawkes. You're a life saver,' he thought to the phoenix and changed back into his human form.

Harry fetched the book he had been reading earlier from the shelf and made himself comfortable on his bed. However, a sudden thought kept him from his lecture. 'You changed into an object against the professor's rules,' a small voice at the back of his head spoke up. 'Oh no,' Harry thought; 'he will be so angry. I just hope he's not looking for me.' In order to communicate with Severus, he thought, 'Professor, I'm sorry. I am back in my own room,' wondering if Severus would be able to think back to him.

It only took a few seconds, before the Potions Master's reply came. 'Thank you for informing me, Harry; I was wondering where you were. You will explain what happened when I return home.'

'Yes sir; I am sorry, sir,' Harry replied, feeling utterly relieved at the lack of anger in the professor's words, even if he had sounded stern.

Fortunately, Severus understood the boy's problem and did not scold him, merely quirking an eyebrow. "You will have to get used to becoming a victim of other students' pranks when you turn eleven and become a student here at Hogwarts," he stated dryly, unwilling to remember his own childhood. Unbeknownst to Harry, he was, however, outright shocked at the revelation that Harry was able to transform into random objects. "Very well, Harry, I wish to leave for the time of the Founders first thing in the morning. You may take the book with you if you want. Now get ready for bed," he said in a gentle voice, knowing from the week he spent together with Harry that the boy used to obey instantly.

In the morning, they still had breakfast in the Great Hall, but as soon as the students boarded the carriages that brought them to the station in Hogsmeade, Severus and Harry returned to their quarters and stepped into Helga's and Salazar's living room. Harry looked at the tapestry with a mixture of amazement and anxiousness.

Catching his gaze, Severus said soothingly, "It'll be all right, Harry. You saw Professor Hufflepuff travel here and back, so we'll manage to do the same. Just hold on to my arm tightly."

"All right, sir," Harry replied, fully trusting the professor, who had turned out to be very kind to him, in spite of the fact that he seemed to despise children in general, if Harry interpreted his outburst correctly, which he had observed when the professor was grading essays or homework a few times. He leaned into Severus' robes, noticing that it felt awkward to be so close to another person.

"Close your eyes," Severus advised him, before he pointed his wand at the tapestry, uttering a date.

Harry obeyed, just in time, when the world began to tilt and turn around faster and faster, before it quietened down again an instant later.

時代を示す絨緞

When he hesitantly opened his eyes, he still found himself in the same room; however, Helga was there, playing some kind of game with a girl, who seemed to be about Harry's age. '_Helga still looks like an angel_,' Harry thought, although he felt a bit silly at the thought, since Severus had explained to him that Helga and her husband as well as Rowena Ravenclaw and her husband Godric were the professors, who had founded Hogwarts one thousand years ago.

"Good morning Severus, good morning Harry," Helga greeted them gently. "This is my younger sister Ceridwen."

"Hello Professor, hello Harry. I am Ceridwen Hufflepuff, and I'm six," the girl replied, smiling, and Harry noticed that she had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen before. Ceridwen had light blue eyes that were twinkling with joy and were surrounded by dark brown hair. She was wearing the same strange kind of robes that Harry already knew from Helga. "I couldn't wait for you to arrive," Ceridwen continued with apparent excitement. "It's always a bit boring during the summer, when all the big students have gone back home, so I was looking forward to having you here."

'_I've never met anyone who talks so much and is so friendly at the same time_,' Harry thought in awe, liking the girl immediately.

"During the summer, our entire families use to stay at Hogwarts, because it is agreeably cool within her thick walls," Helga explained gently. "I suggest that I show you to your guest quarters, and then we'll head down to the Great Hall, where everyone will meet to greet you." She laid a hand on the wall and said in a soft voice, "Hogwarts, please alert everyone that our guests have arrived and wish to see them in the Great Hall in fifteen minutes."

"Yes I will," a soft woman's voice sounded back from the wall, causing Severus and Harry to look at the wall in disbelief.

"You're able to communicate with the castle," Severus stated in apparent amazement, giving Helga an appreciative look.

Helga smirked. "As our descendants, both of you are able to do the same thing. I'll just have to properly introduce to Hogwarts." She led them out into the hall and stopped in front of a door, which was decorated with a magical lynx, just like the one on the tapestry that represented Severus. "Here are your quarters for the time being; however, Hogwarts just informed me that everyone is already assembled and waiting for us. Therefore, I suggest that we hurry up."

Harry noticed that the corridors were the same like in his own time; however, the many magical portraits that had been covering at least one side of the corridors were missing. '_I liked the portraits. They were funny and always very kind when I spoke with them_,' he thought as he absentmindedly listened to Ceridwen, who seemed to never stop talking. A few minutes later, they entered the Great Hall, where about twenty witches and wizards of different age were assembled. Helga motioned for Severus and Harry to take the empty seats between her and Ceridwen, before she introduced them to her colleagues and their families.

While everyone else was introducing themselves, Ceridwen suddenly began to chuckle and whispered into Harry's ear, "Look at Professor Snape. It's too funny."

Severus couldn't prevent himself from staring at Roxana Ravenclaw. '_She is beautiful_,' a small voice at the back of his mind screamed, causing him to study her long, black hair and green eyes. '_She is the one who invented the Tapestry_,' he remembered from what Helga had told him in the future. '_She must be a brilliant Charms Mistress_.' Only when the children next to him began to giggle was he brought back to reality.

He quirked an eyebrow at Harry, who observed him in clear amusement, before he suddenly remembered what had drawn him into the past, apart from Helga's invitation of course. He let his eyes wander along the table, careful so as not to look at the older Ravenclaw sister anymore, until his eyes met Salazar Slytherin's, who was sitting just a few seats away from him. '_The Founder of my House_,' he thought in amazement, giving the other wizard a small nod of appreciation. '_He must be about my age, although Helga seems to be a few years younger_.'

"Snape," Salazar spoke up, a sneer on his face. "I have been told that many of my descendants are Potions Masters. What do you think it is that makes you special?"

Severus unconsciously glared at Salazar. '_That's a question I'd rather ask others than being asked_,' he thought grimly, feeling utterly relieved when Harry responded on his behalf.

"Professor McGonagall told me that Professor Snape is the youngest Potions Master ever, sir," the boy spoke up in a small voice.

"Is that true?" Salazar sneered; however, Severus noticed that the Founder looked at him with interest.

"It is being said," Severus said in his soft, baritone voice. "However, I have been told that you are the greatest Potions Master of all times, sir," he continued, "and I would like to ask you to teach me, especially since I assume that there are many valuable potions, which we don't know in our time."

Salazar gave him an appreciative nod. "That is well possible. Let's go." He rose from his chair and motioned for Severus to follow him, ignoring the glare, which he received from his wife.

Severus looked questioningly at Helga, when Roxana spoke up. "Severus, please go with him. I promised Ceridwen to take her to ride on the unicorns this afternoon, and if you don't mind, we'll take Harry with us," she suggested in a gentle voice.

"If that would be possible," Severus said hesitantly, torn between his responsibility towards his ward and the urge and excitement he felt at the thought of working together with his most adored Potions Master.

"Of course, Professor, no problem," Harry said softly, only to add in thought, 'I promise to be good and not to change into anything.'

Casting the boy a threatening glare, Severus hurried behind Salazar, causing all the adults, who remained in the Great Hall, to break into laughter.

"Sal seems to have found the right companion," Helga said dryly. "I'm sure we won't see them again earlier than dinnertime, and even then we'll have to drag them here."

時代を示す絨緞

Harry followed Roxana and Ceridwen out onto the grounds. "I don't know how it is in Hogwarts at your time, but here, all students have Unicorn Riding classes in their first year," Roxana told him and explained, "You must know that you need to speak to the unicorns in a quiet and gentle voice; otherwise, they'll turn their back to you forever. They won't even look at you, let alone allow you to ride on them."

"All right, Professor," Harry said obediently, causing Roxana to smile.

"I am not a professor, sweetie. You may call me Roxana," she said kindly, taking Harry by the hand when they reached the part of the grounds, where the unicorns lived.

Ceridwen, who had been running ahead, was nowhere to be seen. However, when Harry glanced around with interest, she returned with a unicorn in tow. "Harry, this is Moonlight. Will you try to ride on her? She's an absolute sweetie."

Harry anxiously eyed the large animal, casting Roxana a helpless glance. She smiled at him and advised him to speak with the unicorn, while Ceridwen excitedly ran away to fetch her own favourite unicorn.

To Harry's surprise, it was easier to ride on the unicorns that it had seemed. "Why do the first years have classes for that?" he wondered and hesitantly voiced his thoughts later on, when they sat on top of a nearby hill to have a lunch picnic, wondering why Ceridwen began to giggle in amusement.

"I charmed your unicorn, so that you could ride on her like on a broomstick," Roxana said gently. "Ceridwen's is not charmed, and it is much more difficult to ride on."

During the following weeks, Roxana taught Harry to ride on Moonlight without charming her in advance, and Harry enjoyed himself so much that he began to pester Roxana about taking them riding just like Ceridwen did. The two of them became best friends, and Harry was very happy to have found a real friend for the first time in his life.

During the first week, Harry did not see much of Severus apart from before and during breakfast and dinner, since his guardian spent most of his time brewing together with Salazar Slytherin. However, Harry noticed that Severus seemed to be over the moon with joy just like himself, and he felt extremely happy, when Severus one day asked, "Harry, would you like to join us in the lab this morning? Professor Slytherin and I are planning to brew fruit drops for Ceridwen's birthday, and they are not only fun but fairly easy to brew." He raised an eyebrow at the child, noticing that a huge smile spread over Harry's face.

"I'd love to brew together with you, sir," Harry said excitedly. '_I want him to be proud of me, like Helga says she is proud of Ceridwen when Roxana commends her_,' he thought, resolving to do his best to please Severus. To his surprise, instead of heading to his Potions lab, Salazar led them into the forest, where they spent an hour picking all different kinds of berries, storing them in some kind of boxes that made Harry wonder if they were made from stone or wood. When they finally entered the lab, the two Potions Masters more or less patiently instructed him what to do, and Harry diligently prepared the fruits along with the other ingredients that he was told to cut, chop or slice. Finally, Severus placed a black cauldron in front of him, and under the clear instructions of the two wizards, Harry flawlessly brewed his first potion.

"Very well done, Harry," Severus commended him, while Salazar nodded appreciatively.

'_Did I do something wrong?_' Harry wondered, '_Or is he even grumpier than Severus normally is?_' He was pulled out of his musings when Salazar turned to Severus.

"You must teach the boy. He might be able to break your reputation as the youngest Potions Master."

Harry stared at the Founder in disbelief, but the wizard did not further elaborate but proceeded to clear his lab with a flick of his wand. However, from that day onwards, the two Potions Masters proceeded to take Harry to the lab and teach him every morning, while they spent the afternoons during their own research.

時代を示す絨緞

It was a few days after and Harry's seventh birthday, which was celebrated by a huge party just like Ceridwen's, that Godric asked Severus and Harry to come to the Headmaster's office right after breakfast.

'_What might be wrong?_' Harry wondered. '_He looked so stern. I hope nothing bad happened_.' He carefully slid his small hand into Severus' like he always did with Roxana, causing his guardian to cast him an astonished but amused look.

To Harry's surprise, the Founders as well as Roxana were assembled in the Headmaster's office. Severus took the last remaining seat and carefully pulled Harry onto his lap. '_It's all right; Severus would never hurt me_,' Harry told himself and firmly leaned into his guardian's robes in order to prevent himself from panicking at the bodily contact. He looked up with interest when Godric cleared his throat.

"As you might have heard before, my wife, Rowena, is a Seer," the Headmaster began to speak. "During the last few years, she has seen several visions about two evil wizards, both of them about one thousand years into the future. One of them is Tom Riddle, who is a many times great grandson of Helga and Salazar. Severus, do you by chance know him?"

"Yes, I know the Dark Lord," Severus replied grimly, groaning inwardly as he recalled his Death Eater activities. '_I hope they won't find out about the mistake I made at that time_,' he thought in desperation. "He is the one who killed Harry's parents," he said, hoping to distract everyone from himself.

"Very well then," Godric continued without further enquiry. "Rowena showed me several scenes in my Pensieve, which made me come to the conclusion that we need to prevent Tom from becoming the Dark Lord, and my sister-in-law has agreed to accompany you and help you fulfil your task."

'_My task?_' Severus and Harry thought simultaneously, looking at the Headmaster in shock.

"From my newest vision," Rowena continued, "I know that Severus, Harry and Roxana travel to the time, when Tom is seven like Harry. I saw them attend Hogwarts together, and I also saw you, Severus, teach your younger self Potions."

The two time travellers looked at the Founder in disbelief. '_How can he teach himself?_' Harry wondered, his seven-year-old brain not able to comprehend the full meaning behind Rowena's statement.

"If we manage to keep Tom from becoming the Dark Lord, will we be able to save Harry's parents?" Severus queried, quirking an eyebrow.

'_No, we won't_,' Harry realised as he glanced around in the Founders' faces, even before Roxana was the first to respond.

She let out a long sigh, before she explained, "I am sorry, but the Tapestry of Time is charmed in a way that any changes made by time travellers, which influence the future, won't affect the lives of those, who are on the tapestry. Harry's parents are both on the tapestry; therefore, they will, unfortunately, both die, if not at the hands of their murderer, then by some other means. I am sorry."

"You don't have a reason to be sorry," Severus said in his soft, baritone voice. "If we manage to turn Tom right in time, we'll still be able to save many lives, and if I am not mistaken, the reassuring point is that whatever we do, Harry will be born in any case."

"Exactly," Roxana confirmed, smiling at Harry and Severus.

時代を示す絨緞

Severus, Roxana and the four Founders used the following weeks to make a detailed plan, while Harry and Ceridwen spent much time together with her and Helga's parents, Heather and Heath Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuffs gave the children easy lessons in Charms, Spells, Runes, and Healing every morning, before they took them unicorn riding or flying in the afternoons. From time to time, Ceridwen and Harry were allowed to help Salazar and Severus in the Potions lab, and they enjoyed their time together greatly.

When the holidays were nearly over, Severus told Harry one morning that they would go back to the future the following day. "We shall return to our usual time, so that we'll arrive on the day after the one on which we left. I'll have to speak with the Headmaster and ask him for help, since he was already a professor at Hogwarts in the time, to which we have to travel in order to help little Tom. Do you remember that we were talking about him in Professor Gryffindor's office?"

Harry scrunched his face in thought. "Yeah," he said finally. "Is Tom seven like me?"

Severus let out a long sigh as he brought his forefingers upwards to massage his temples. "That would be the best; however, I must ask Professor Dumbledore, which time would be the most convenient. Roxana will travel together with us, so you'll be able to spend some time with her, while I'm busy making plans together with Professor Dumbledore."

Harry smiled. "I like Roxana," he said in a soft voice. "She is very nice."

"Yes," Severus replied absentmindedly, "that she is indeed."

'_I wished Ceridwen could go with us_,' Harry thought sadly, torn between wanting to remain in the past, where everyone was so nice and where he had the best friend he could imagine, and looking forward to travelling to the future, because Severus would hopefully have more time for him without Salazar being with him all the time.

"Harry," Severus said gently, raising Harry's chin with his forefinger, "don't be sad about leaving everyone here behind. We can return to this time whenever we want and, for example, spend the summer or winter holidays here."

時代を示す絨緞

Back in the future, Severus spent more time in the Potions lab with Harry. He had to admit to himself that Salazar had been absolutely correct when he stated that Harry was very adept at Potions. However, Roxana, who busied herself teaching the child Reading, Writing and Math, noticed that he had slight difficulties to properly write.

"His hand writing is atrocious," she told Severus in concern. "I think that he needs a lot of practice; otherwise, he'll be in difficulties when he attends Hogwarts. Do you have any plans of what to do with Harry and Tom, while you're in class, by the way?"

Severus sighed. "I've been discussing the problem with Professor Dumbledore, and I believe that we found a solution. However, we're going to use your help and that of the four Founders of Hogwarts."

_tbc..._


	4. Chapter 4

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Seeing that Roxana eyed him with interest, Severus explained, "Professor Dumbledore suggested that we should build a Primary School here on the grounds." He looked at the ancient witch, raising an eyebrow in silent question.

"I believe that is a wonderful idea," Roxana said warmly, "and I will of course help. That's why I joined you. In fact, I'd love to teach at Hogwarts, however, not together with my sister. It's not that we are on bad terms, but we wouldn't be able to efficiently work together. Helga has asked me to teach Charms several times, but I have always declined because of Rowena."

"I understand," Severus said thoughtfully. "We can speak with Professor Dumbledore about the matter." '_I'd love her to teach Charms at Hogwarts. It would be much nicer to have her as colleague than Filius Flitwick, although everything will be different anyway, nearly fifty years into the past_,' he mused, looking up startled when Roxana spoke up again.

"If everything is clear with the professor, who is Headmaster at that time, I can go and fetch Rowena and her colleagues, although I don't think that you'll need them, since Harry and you are able to speak with the castle yourselves. Tom should be able to do the same."

"I am not sure if we should let Tom know about his abilities," Severus countered in a sharper voice than intended. '_And I hope that he won't have a bad influence on Harry_,' he thought in utmost concern.

時代を示す絨緞

A few weeks later, Roxana, Severus and Harry once again said good-bye to everyone who was residing at Hogwarts during the summer. Before they left for the Founders' quarters after their last breakfast in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall pulled Harry aside. "Harry, I wish you good luck. Try to become good friends with Tom, and I'll see you in the past, since I'll be at Hogwarts at the same time, even if my younger self won't know you." She handed Harry a book, which had a dark blue leather cover. "Harry, don't show this to anyone except for Severus and Roxana. This is a self-updating version of 'Hogwarts: A History.' The interesting point is that the updates won't occur depending on where you are, but where I am, because I am the one who charmed the book. Since I assume that you're going to change the future to a great extent, I thought it might be interesting for you to have a book that shows you how everything would have turned out if you hadn't changed the future."

Harry looked up at the older professor, who was wearing her usual tartan robes. A rare smile was playing on her lips. He had not understood everything of her explanation, but he knew that she meant well with him and was very grateful. "Thank you so much, Professor," he said politely. "I look forward to meeting your younger self."

A few minutes later, the three time travellers gathered in front of the Tapestry of Time. "Cicero!" Severus called his house-elf and instructed him to hold on tightly, together with Harry, who felt strangely happy upon noticing that Cicero was going to accompany them. Together, the four went back fifty-three years in time, arriving in the middle of June, 1933. Severus turned to Cicero and advised him to remain invisibly at his side, before he glanced at his self adjusting wrist watch. "It's five o'clock in the afternoon in this time. Maybe we should go and see if we can speak with Albus in his office before dinner."

"Sir?" Harry spoke up hesitantly. "Do you want me to accompany you? Shall I change into a book, so that I fit into your robe pocket?"

Severus cast Harry a menacing glare. "Don't you dare..."

"No sir, I'm sorry, sir," Harry said quickly. "I just meant not to disturb you."

Roxana couldn't help chuckling at the two wizards' interaction, causing Severus to look at her in irritation. "Very well then," he said, sounding slightly grumpy, "let's go."

Harry curiously glanced around as they walked through the deserted halls, noticing happily that the paintings from the future were already decorating the corridors in this time. A portrait of Godric Gryffindor was guarding the Transfiguration professor's office, and Harry smiled at the Founder. All of a sudden, the three time travellers heard a voice shouting, "Expelliarmus!" and found themselves looking straight down the business end of a wand.

"Who are you, and how dare you enter my office without properly knocking? Professor Gryffindor, do you have an explanation as to why you allow these people entrance without asking for the password?" a much younger looking Albus Dumbledore than the old wizard they knew queried angrily, and Harry noticed that for once his eyes were not twinkling but glaring at them.

"One of them is my sister-in-law, Roxana Ravenclaw, and the others are descendants of the Founders of Hogwarts, who came to your time in order to save your future," Godric replied icily. "You better behave and comply with their wishes; otherwise, you'll have been a professor at Hogwarts for the longest time."

#You won't have a chance against the old, grumpy one,# Fawkes suddenly trilled, causing Harry to chuckle. #Apart from that, I know these people from the time of the old grumpy one and the old sneaky one. The young, snarky one here and the nestling are supposed to remain in this time. They probably have a letter for you from your older self.#

Harry telepathically translated Fawkes' trills to Severus, who immediately pulled the envelope out of his robe pocket, which Albus Dumbledore had prepared for him in the future. The three time travellers observed how the Transfiguration professor cast several spells at the parchments, before he sat back in his seat and said, "The parchments seem to be authentic. Please take a seat and have some tea."

An instant later, Twinkle, whom Severus and Harry already knew from the future, served tea and sandwiches along with a small bowl of lemon drops. While Roxana, Severus and Harry drank their tea, Dumbledore engrossed himself in his older self's writing, thoughtfully stroking his long beard when he was finished.

"Please allow me to view the attached memories," Dumbledore finally spoke up. Twinkle will take you to your guest quarters, and he will also provide you with everything else you need. I suggest that we meet here again tomorrow morning and have breakfast together while we discuss your plans. In the meantime, I will speak with Headmaster Dippet and share the information from my older self with him."

"Thank you, sir. However, we prefer to stay in our own rooms in the Founders' quarters," Severus replied firmly. "We will be back here tomorrow morning at eight o'clock."

Dumbledore looked at him in surprise at the mentioning of the Founders' quarters but was so eager to watch the memories that he nodded his agreement. The small group returned to the Founders' quarters, where they spent a quiet evening, playing Wizard's Chess, talking, and reading.

"Harry," Severus suddenly spoke up, seemingly deep in thoughts. "I'm going to ask you something, and I'd like you to tell me the truth." Seeing that Harry looked at him in expectation, he continued, "Professor Dumbledore might want me to adopt Tom, which I will of course do if necessary. In that case, we should consider if you would like me to adopt you as well, so that you'll be in exactly the same position as Tom."

"I'd like that," Harry said shyly, "if I am not too much of a bother."

Severus rolled his eyes. "No Harry, you're no bother at all. The adoption would make you and Tom brothers and my sons."

Harry glanced at Roxana. '_Will Roxana be our Mummy then?_' he thought, hopefully.

A huge smile spread over Harry's face as he replied softly, "Thank you, sir. I'd love to have a brother and a father. That would be so cool." To himself he thought, '_He wants to become my Daddy, and not because anyone asked him. Why would he want to do that?_'

時代を示す絨緞

In the morning, Professor Dumbledore was waiting for the time travellers together with Headmaster Dippet.

"We watched the memories, and we believe that it would be a good idea if you took little Tom in as soon as possible," Dippet told Severus. "I can offer you the position of the Potions Master and Slytherin Head of House like Albus' older self suggested. In fact, you're right in time, because I have an appointment with Horatius Slughorn, a potential candidate for these posts, next Wednesday."

Severus nodded contentedly. "He was my Head of House," he said, smirking. "Thank you so much, Professor Dippet, for giving me the opportunity to teach in this time."

The Headmaster glanced at Roxana. "Albus' older self suggested hiring you as the Charms professor. However, in lack of a vacancy at the moment, I'd like to ask you to become our first teacher at the Primary School for the time being. Our current Charms professor and Head of Ravenclaw will probably retire in a few years' time."

"I'd love to teach at the Primary School until then," Roxana replied, smiling at the Headmaster. "Thank you very much, Professor."

"As urgent as it is to begin setting up the new school building, I believe that you should go and fetch Tom first," Dumbledore threw in, slowly popping a lemon drop into his mouth. "The earlier he becomes used to a normal family life within the magical world with parents and a brother the better. Fawkes will flash you outside the Muggle orphanage, where Tom resides at the moment."

"Very well," Severus agreed; "however, there is still one matter that has to be addressed, before we can bring Tom to Hogwarts."

Seeing that everyone eyed him curiously, Severus sighed. "I'd like to adopt Harry. I should have done that in the past, but somehow..." He slowly trailed off.

Dumbledore and Dippet exchanged a glance. "Severus, did you by some means change your birth dates, so that there will be entries of both of you at the Ministry of Magic at this time?" Dumbledore was the first to speak up.

"Yes sir," Severus confirmed, explaining how Dumbledore's older self had summoned the documents from the Ministry, so that Roxana could charm them accordingly. "You and Roxana are listed as godparents by the way. Your older self..."

"That's all right, Severus," Dumbledore interrupted him, and his eyes were twinkling merrily as he looked at Harry. "So you're my godchild, Harry. That is just wonderful."

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied, shyly returning the smile.

時代を示す絨緞

The orphanage was a tall and very old, grubby building. '_So this is where Tom lives_,' Harry mused, suddenly feeling very grateful towards the Dursleys for not sending him to such a place.

"Good morning Madam," Roxana greeted the lady, who opened the door for them. "We heard that you have a boy here named Tom Marvolo Riddle; is that correct?"

"That is correct, yes, but who are you?" the lady enquired gently.

"We are Severus and Harry Snape and Roxana Ravenclaw. We are related to Tom. I am his uncle on his mother's side. Only recently, we heard of his mother's death, and that's why we came to see him," Severus lied eloquently.

"Would you perhaps be interested to take him in?" the lady asked with apparent interest. "He doesn't get along too well with the other kids, you see, and it would be better for him, if he had a new home," she explained in obvious concern.

"This exactly is the reason for our visit," Severus replied, impatiently.

"Very well; at this time of the day, he'll probably be in his own room, which is on the sixth floor. I will take you there."

The three time travellers agreed, and a few minutes later, they entered a small room. Seven-year-old Tom was alone in his room, reading an illustrated book. "What do you want?" he asked, seeing the three strangers enter his room.

Harry looked around interestedly. The room was sparsely furnished. There was a bed, a wardrobe, a small desk, and a chair. The high walls were painted in a very light yellow, which must have been quite modern at one time. Now, parts of the paint were peeled off though. However, on one side of the room was a huge window, and the room was very light.

"Hello Tom. I am your uncle, and this is my son Harry and a good friend, Roxana," Severus informed the boy in his soft, baritone voice. "Only a few weeks ago, we heard about your mother's death, and we would like for you to come and live with us."

Tom gave them a surprised look. "I didn't know that I had relatives, sir. I'd love to get away from here. I don't like it here. The kids are unnerving and stupid," he replied firmly.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the boy, causing Tom to quickly add, "They are just plain normal. They're not like me. I'm better than all of them."

"You're not better than the other children, Tom; however, in contrary to them, you are a wizard, just like us," Severus informed him in a calm voice. "Is there anything you want to take with you, Tom?" he asked gently.

Tom shook his head, and the small group returned downstairs, where Severus quickly filled in the paperwork together with the kind lady. While Roxana and the boys were waiting outside, in front of the orphanage, Harry shyly addressed Tom. "Hello Tom, I'm Harry, and I'm seven."

"Hello Harry. I'm seven, too," Tom replied, eyeing Harry with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance.

"We live at Hogwarts, which is a school for magic," Harry explained, and Tom's eyes widened, before they suddenly narrowed.

"But I can already do magic," he blurted out, glaring at Harry. "I'm not as stupid as everyone else."

Harry looked at Roxana in confusion.

"Tom, all children, who attend Hogwarts, can do magic," Roxana spoke up in a gentle voice. "However, they learn how to control their magic and how to cast useful spells." Seeing that Tom looked at her with apparent interest, she unobtrusively pulled her wand and conjured a stuffed dragon, similar to the unicorn, which Harry had received from Severus a few weeks earlier. "You just have to look at his eyes if you want to change his colour," she explained softly.

"Is this for me?" Tom queried in apparent disbelief.

"Yes, that's yours. I just made it for you to show you what you can do with magic," Roxana confirmed, noticing with amusement how Tom unconsciously cuddled the dragon. "Show me the dragon once more," she said, smirking as she pointed her wand at the toy. "Now if you press his belly button, he'll breathe chocolate dragons," she explained, causing Tom to make a small chocolate dragon come out of the dragon's mouth.

Tom eyed the chocolate dragon in confusion, and Roxana chuckled. "You may eat the dragon, Tom. Just be careful that you don't eat too much chocolate; otherwise you'll make your tummy ache."

Tom was still devouring his chocolate dragon with apparent gusto, when Severus joined the group, eyeing the scene with amusement.

'Fawkes, can you take us back to Hogwarts please?' Harry thought to the phoenix, who appeared in front of them within seconds.

Severus instructed Tom to tightly hold on to Fawkes' back feathers just like everyone else did, and an instant later, they found themselves back in Professor Dumbledore's office.

時代を示す絨緞

Dumbledore greeted Tom and told him about Hogwarts and the four Houses.

"Hogwarts only begins from eleven onwards?" Tom blurted out in clear disappointment. "But I can already do magic, and I want to learn more as soon as possible.

Harry shook his head in disbelief. '_He has very bad manners, interrupting the professor_,' he thought, looking longingly at the dragon in Tom's hand. '_I'd love to have such a chocolate dragon. It's a pity that my unicorn can't spit them out_.' He absently listened when Dumbledore explained that they were going to build a primary school for children from the age of seven onwards.

"Can I help building the school?" Tom asked eagerly, causing Harry to look up in surprise.

"Harry and you will both be able to help; however, first of all, Professors Snape and Ravenclaw as well as the Headmaster and I need to build up the outer walls and make the necessary rooms," Dumbledore explained gently. "This affords too much magic for two seven-year-olds. You may help decorating the classrooms later on."

"Oh Tom, I'm sure that'll be fun," Harry spoke up eagerly, smiling at the other boy, who merely shrugged.

"Very well then," Severus said, rising from his seat. "Let's show Tom to our quarters, and then we'll see what we're going to do with the two of you in the afternoon, when we need to join the other teachers to set up the school building."

"Severus," Professor Dippet threw in, "why don't we ask Madam Pomfrey to look after the children. Her granddaughter, Poppy, is staying at Hogwarts with her over the summer, and I'm sure she'd be thrilled to have two friends to play with. As far as I know she is seven as well."

Severus smirked and said, "I believe that is a very good idea. Thank you, Headmaster."

With the instruction to attend lunch in the Great Hall, Severus, Roxana and the two boys left, heading to their own quarters, where Cicero had already prepared Harry's room, so that he could share the room with Tom.

'_He somehow reminds me of Dudley. I hope that we'll get along well_,' Harry thought as he showed Tom their room.

"A nice room," Tom said, looking around in amazement. His eyes widened as he took in the ceiling, which Roxana had charmed to look like that of the Great Hall. "Does this room have no ceiling?" he asked bewildered.

"It has," Harry replied in a soft voice, chuckling inwardly, "but it's charmed to look like the sky outside. I love it, especially at night when you can see the stars. I'm glad to have you here, Tom. It'll be nice to have a brother and share a room."

A small smile stole itself on Tom's lips. "Thank you, Harry. I'm glad to be among people like myself. The place where I lived before was horrible."

"I believe that," Harry said softly. "I lived with my relatives before, and it wasn't nice at all. Here at Hogwarts, everyone is very nice, and it's cool what they can do with magic."

He interrupted himself when Roxana entered the room. "Hello boys," she said pleasantly, "is everything all right?"

Harry smiled, while Tom nodded. "Yes Madam. Thank you so much for bringing me here," he said, absentmindedly cuddling his dragon.

"We're glad to have you here, sweetie," Roxana replied, turning to Harry. "Harry, would you mind lending Tom one of your robes? Your father intends to take him shopping as soon as possible; however, we'd really prefer to commence with the school building this afternoon." She cast Harry a questioning look.

"Of course," Harry said in surprise. "Severus bought so many clothes for me that it's enough for both Tom and me."

"Thank you, Harry," Roxana said gently and helped Tom to choose robes and dress, before she motioned both boys to go wash their hands and get ready for lunch.

時代を示す絨緞

When they entered the Great Hall, Tom whispered to Harry, "Wow, this is gorgeous."

"That's true," Harry agreed, glad that Tom seemed to like their new home as much as he did.

"Hello Harry, hi Tom," a girl's voice pulled Harry out of his thoughts. "I'm Poppy. It's great to have you here so we can explore the castle together. I am here with my Granny Theresa over the summer. She is the Mediwitch here."

"Hello Poppy," Tom said, giving the girl an assessing look.

"Nice to meet you, Poppy," Harry said, smiling at the girl. '_She reminds me a bit of Ceridwen. Not only because she has the same brown hair and brown eyes, but also because of her smile and how much she talks_,' he mused as he absentmindedly followed the others to a round table in the middle of the Great Hall. '_The Hall looks strangely huge without the House tables_,' Harry thought, although it had not been different in the future.

Only Headmaster Dippet and Professor Dumbledore were present as well as an older witch, whom Dippet introduced as Theresa Pomfrey. During the meal, the adults spoke about the new school building, while the three children talked animatedly, especially Poppy and Harry, who told Tom everything they knew about Hogwarts. '_I must not tell either of them about the time travel and the age of the Founders_,' Harry had to remind himself every now and then. '_Maybe if I know them better, Severus and Roxana will allow me to tell them everything_.'

"Granny, can I take Tom and Harry to explore the castle?" Poppy begged her grandmother when everyone rose from their seats.

Theresa gave the children a stern look. "Yes, you may, but you have to remember the rules, Poppy. Stay inside or at least on the grounds."

"Will do," Poppy replied, cheering. "Let's go," she said to the boys. "Harry, what do you want to show Tom first?"

Poppy and Harry spent the next hour showing Tom the castle, and Harry was very careful to not lead his new friends through any of the secret shortcuts, which he knew from the past and was used to take in order to get around the castle much quicker. They explored some of the unused corridors, until Poppy decided that they were too dusty and suggested to go flying.

"Flying?" Tom repeated in disbelief. "How are we supposed to fly?"

"On broomsticks," Harry said, chuckling. "Poppy, do you have one?"

"Of course," the girl replied, enthusiastically. "I absolutely love to fly. I'll go and fetch my broom. Let's meet in the entrance hall."

Harry and Tom returned to their room to fetch Harry's broom. "I'll show you how to do it, and then you may try. I'm sure you'll like it. We'll take turns," Harry promised, unaware of the fact that he was going to regret his own kindness before the afternoon was over.

_tbc..._


	5. Chapter 5

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Poppy and Harry showed Tom how to fly, and just like Harry had succeeded in flying on his broom at the first attempt a few weeks ago, Tom could fly immediately and enjoyed himself greatly. The three friends spent the rest of the afternoon taking turns flying on their two brooms, before Harry pulled the Snitch out of his robe pocket. He loved the Snitch, which he had received from Professor McGonagall in the future, and he used to enjoy himself greatly trying to catch it. They played a few times, but Harry always managed to catch the Snitch first, earlier than Poppy and earlier than Tom.

When Harry reached out for the Snitch yet again, winning the fifth time in a row, Tom, who was flying right behind Harry in his attempt to catch the golden ball, became angry. He leaned forward, reached out for Harry's broom and pulled it backwards, causing the smaller boy to lose the grip on his broom.

From where she was sitting beside the lake, Poppy observed in horror how Harry tumbled downwards and fell right into the lake. "Thank Merlin you were flying above the lake. He would be dead if he had fallen down onto the ground," she shouted angrily, feverishly searching the surface for a sign of Harry.

'_I'm drowning_,' Harry thought, terrified, '_but I don't want to die. I love being at Hogwarts with Severus, Roxana, Tom and Poppy, but I can't swim and it's so cold_.' He tried to move upwards, but he couldn't prevent himself from swallowing a lot of water and felt as if he was going to pass out any second. However, all of a sudden, he felt himself being lifted up by strong arms. He passed the surface and could breathe again. '_The squid_,' he realised as he opened his eyes. '_The squid saved me_.' He remained on the ground for an instant, shivering violently, while the Giant Squid pulled his arms back into the water with a loud splash.

"Harry, are you all right?" Poppy asked, sounding terrified. "Let me take you to Granny. She'll dry you and give you a Pepperup potion, so that you won't catch a cold."

"No, I'll be fine," Harry replied, still shivering in his wet clothes. "I'll just go home and change into dry clothes." Barely noticing that the squid showed up once more to return his broom, he hurried away, wondering what to think about Tom's behaviour. '_Severus and Roxana told me that he would be difficult, but did they know that he'd try to kill me?_' he wondered, pondering if he should tell the adults about the event. '_I won't_,' he finally decided on his way back to where Poppy and Tom were waiting. '_I don't want them to send Tom away. He was as unhappy in the orphanage as I was at the Dursleys, and maybe it was only an accident and he didn't really want to harm me_.'

時代を示す絨緞

"Tom, what do you think you were doing? Did you want to kill Harry?" Poppy scolded the other boy. "He was lucky that the squid was there, because you or I couldn't have rescued him."

"I'm sorry," Tom said in a small voice. "I don't know. I didn't want to kill him. I was just angry because he always beat me."

"Anyway, don't do such a stunt ever again, or I won't be your friend anymore," Poppy said firmly. "Let's go after Harry."

The three friends met in the entrance hall. Harry smiled when Tom handed him his broom and uttered, "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't want to hurt you."

"It's all right," Harry replied in a quiet voice. "I'm glad that the squid was so nice and saved me."

"I'd still prefer to take you to Granny," Poppy spoke up, casting him a worried look. Seeing that Harry fiercely shook his head, she insisted, "Very well then, let's go to the kitchen and have a hot cocoa to warm you up, and you must come with me or I tell Granny."

Harry sighed. The thought of something hot to drink was very appealing. However, there was something he needed to do first. "Poppy, I promise I'll come to the kitchen as soon as I can; however, I need to go and thank the squid first."

"We're going with you," Poppy said firmly.

"No," Harry replied decisively. "I want to go alone. Please take Tom to the kitchen, and I'll be there soon."

Poppy cast him a menacing glare but grudgingly took Tom's hand and pulled the boy away. Harry sighed in relief, before he proceeded to think about his next problem. Heading outside, he feverishly thought, '_I need to change into a squid, so that I can speak to the Giant Squid. He saved my life, and I really want to thank him_.' He deeply engrossed himself in the thought, pushing as much magic into the wish as he could when he reached the lake.

時代を示す絨緞

The Giant Squid looked up in surprise when a small squid, seemingly popping out of nothing, jumped into the lake. Noticing that the baby squid could barely swim yet, he hurried to the shore.

=Heya little one. Where do you come from all of a sudden?= he queried.

=It's me, Harry,= the small quid replied softly. =I just came to thank you for saving my life.=

=No problem,= the older squid said gently. =You're a squid Animagus? The first squid Animagus I have ever seen. This is amazing. I always wished for someone to speak with.=

Harry sighed. =Sorry, but I'm in a hurry, because the others are waiting for me and I don't want them to know that I can change into a squid. But I'll come back and speak with you. Is there anything I can do to thank you?=

The squid remained thoughtful for an instant, before he replied, =I love the herb drops that Ceridwen always used to carry around for her daughter, who often caught colds. She gave me one, when I caught a cold once, and it did not only help but was very tasty. I loved it, but I never ever received one after Ceridwen was gone.=

=Herb drops?= Harry repeated in surprise and began to chuckle. =I'll ask Severus if I can brew some for you,= he promised, wondering if he would be able to brew exactly the same drops or if he had to time travel and ask Ceridwen for the recipe first.

Apparently realising that he had no idea how to get out of the lake in order to change back into his human form, the Giant Squid once again lifted him out of the water in a gentle grip. =Come back soon for a swimming lesson,= he advised him, splashing around in the water in amusement.

=Will do,= Harry said gratefully and transformed back to hurry after Poppy and Tom.

時代を示す絨緞

Harry quickly slipped into the seat next to Tom, noticing happily that a huge mug of cocoa covered with a thick layer of cream was waiting for him. He joined his friends' conversation about the new primary school, glad that no one mentioned the earlier events anymore. The three friends decided to go and spy on the adults on the next day, just when a very small elf popped up and said in a childish sounding voice, "Mistress Poppy, it is time for dinner in the Great Hall."

"Thank you, Misty," Poppy replied gently. "Misty, these are my friends, Tom and Harry." Turning to the boys, she explained, "This is Misty, my personal house-elf. She is seven just like us, and when she is big, she wants to become a Healer just like me."

"Hello Misty," Tom and Harry said simultaneously, and Harry found that he liked the small elf immensely. '_She is so cute_,' he thought, smiling at Misty.

時代を示す絨緞

After dinner, Roxana gave the two boys a bath, and Harry and Tom enjoyed themselves greatly playing in the bath tub with a group of toy dragons, while Roxana washed their hair. '_It's much fun having a brother_,' Harry thought happily. However, when he was in his pyjamas and scrambled into bed, he noticed that he had caught a cold. His throat hurt and he couldn't prevent himself from sneezing every now and then. Of course this didn't go unnoticed by Roxana and Severus, who came to say good night and tuck the children in.

"Harry, are you sick?" Severus queried, placing a cool hand on the child's forehead.

"It's just a cold," Harry said in a small voice. "It's not bad. Um... I fell into the lake this afternoon," he admitted. "I wasn't careful enough and fell from my broom."

"You must be very careful flying, Harry," Severus scolded him, sounding very stern. "I will brew a Pepperup potion for you and come back in about an hour. I didn't have time to brew anything since we arrived."

"Why don't you ask Cicero to fetch one from the hospital wing?" Roxana suggested, looking at him questioningly.

"Because I want to brew it myself," Severus replied firmly. "No Potions Master would easily trust the brewing of other Potions Masters, and I definitely won't if it concerns a potion for my son." He placed a kiss on Harry's forehead and stood from the edge of Harry's bed to speak with Tom.

Tom absentmindedly spoke with Severus, who asked him if he liked it at Hogwarts. "I played together with Harry and Poppy, and it was much fun. I've never met children, who are like me, before, and I like being at Hogwarts," he replied, while his thoughts went haywire.

時代を示す絨緞

'_Why didn't he give me out?_' Tom thought in confusion. '_Any other child I ever met before would have complained to Severus how I tried to kill them or whatever. But Harry made it sound as if it had been his own fault that he ended up in the lake. I would have felt better if he had told Severus the truth and he had punished me and hated me like everyone else_.'

A small smile played on his lips when Severus placed a kiss on his forehead just like he had done with Harry, while he observed Roxana charm Harry's unicorn to spit out herb drops at bellybutton touch, telling him that they would help with his sore throat, before she left the room together with Severus.

"You're a pampered brat," Tom hissed at Harry, before he stared at the now empty bed in disbelief. Only the unicorn was left on Harry's pillow, but the boy was gone.

時代を示す絨緞

When Severus returned to the boys' room with a goblet of the still steaming Pepperup potion in his hand, Harry's bed was empty, and Tom was sitting in his own bed, looking at him in fright.

"What happened?" Severus asked sternly, placing the goblet on Harry's night table.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault," Tom admitted in a small voice, averting his eyes to the floor. "I insulted him, and he vanished all of a sudden."

Severus glared at the boy but forced himself to remain calm, pushing the thought of Harry being sick and waiting in form of some object for him to come and help to the back of his mind. "What exactly did you say to him?" he queried as friendly as he could, sitting on the edge of the boy's bed.

"I told him he was a pampered brat," Tom said, "and I made him fall from his broom this afternoon. I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt him, and I was angry because he didn't tell you the truth but covered up for me," he blurted out and began to cry.

Severus let out a long sigh as he reached out and slowly rubbed circles in the boy's back. "Tom, that was a very nasty thing to say," he said in a soft but firm voice. "Harry is not the slightest bit more pampered than you; on the contrary, he was neglected and abused by his relatives. As to why he didn't give you out, it is because he is a very kind and loving boy, who wants to become a good brother to you. We will speak about the matter tomorrow. For now, I want you to lie down and sleep. I'm going to look for Harry, because I want him to take his potion, so that he'll be well and able to play with you again tomorrow. Good night, child."

"Good night, Severus, and please tell Harry I'm sorry," Tom whispered, feeling very much consoled by Severus' calm words.

Severus unobtrusively cast a sleeping spell at Tom as he stepped over to Harry's bed. Lifting up the bed covers, his eyes fell on a stuffed squid that was spread out under the covers. "Harry, your newest form is indeed impressing," he said, smirking. "However, I'd prefer if you could change back and take your potion." Seeing that Harry did not show any reaction, he added, "Tom told me everything and instructed me to tell you that he is sorry." He observed in relief how Harry slowly transformed back into his human form.

"Sorry Dad," Harry whispered, looking at Severus from glassy green eyes.

A small smile flashed over Severus' face as he gently helped the boy to sit up and pressed the goblet against his lips. "Swallow," he instructed him, glad when Harry complied immediately.

"That's much better," Harry said gratefully. "Thank you, Severus."

"You're welcome, Harry," Severus replied in a soft voice. "We'll see if you need another dose in the morning. Now try to sleep. I'll check on you later on."

'_He called me Dad, even if it only was when he was feeling unwell_,' he mused as he left the room, leaving two sleeping boys behind.

時代を示す絨緞

In the morning, Tom was awake very early. He sat up and anxiously looked over to Harry. '_I hope he won't be angry anymore. It's really cool to have a brother, who is like myself, and if Poppy hears what I said to him last night, she might not want to be my friend anymore_.' He scurried over to Harry's bed and sat on the edge like Severus had sat next to him the evening before. '_He was very angry, but he was still nice_,' he thought, dreading the conversation about the events of the previous afternoon that Severus had announced. Tom quietly laid his hand on Harry's shoulder, looking at the boy, startled, when Harry unconsciously flinched away, before he jerked awake in panic.

"Oh, I'm sorry Harry," Tom said in confusion. "And I'm sorry for what I said to you last night. Are you still sick?" He observed in concern how Harry lazily rubbed his eyes.

"I'm fine, Tom, and it's all right," Harry said, yawning. "Give me a minute."

He was just about to drift back to sleep, when Tom spoke again. "Harry, where did you go?"

"Hmm?" Harry asked sleepily. "Nowhere."

"Last night, when I insulted you, you vanished," Tom explained, looking at the other boy in expectation.

Still unsure if he could trust Tom with his secret, Harry merely said, "I didn't go anywhere. I hid under my covers."

"Really?" Tom asked in surprise, wondering why he hadn't seen Harry. "I told your father that it was my fault you fell in the lake," he said in a soft voice, causing Harry to look at him in disbelief.

"Why did you do that, and he is not my father; he is our father," he said firmly.

"I don't think he'll want to become my father," Tom said quietly. "He was very angry and told me we'd speak about it again today."

"It's all right, Tom," Harry said soothingly. "If you promise to try not to harm anyone anymore, it'll be fine."

"Do you believe me if I say I won't?" Tom asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry. "The children in the orphanage always told me they wouldn't trust me."

"I believe you," Harry said gently. "Shall we go and see if Roxana and Severus are already up?"

Tom nodded, feeling very much consoled at Harry's kindness. He ran after Harry, until he bumped into him when Harry suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, letting out a huge gasp.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked in concern, trying to look over the smaller boy's shoulder.

"A ghost," Harry whispered in disbelief, before he queried in a louder voice, "Hello there. Who are you, and what are you doing in our quarters?"

"Hello little ones," the ghost said, chuckling. "I am Merlin, your many times great grandfather."

"Wow," Harry blurted out. "Is that true? I've heard about you, but I didn't know that you were at Hogwarts."

The ghost chuckled. "Godric brought me here when he founded the castle together with his friends, and ever since then this has been my home. Hardly anyone ever sees me, because I use to remain in these quarters during the days. But at night, I love to roam the corridors and play pranks on students and teachers." He chuckled again. "Everyone always assumes it was either Peeves or Fawkes," he added, before he swept away through the wall with a cackling laughter.

Tom and Harry exchanged a surprised look, just when Severus entered the room, quirking an eyebrow.

"We just met Ghost Merlin," Harry replied to his silent question.

"He was very funny," Tom added, chuckling, causing Harry to eagerly nod.

"Are you feeling all right, Harry?" Severus asked, giving him a sharp look.

"Yes sir," Harry said, smiling. "Thank you so much for brewing the Pepperup for me last night."

"You're welcome, Harry," Severus said and smiled at the boy, unobtrusively casting a diagnostic spell at him as he followed the two boys downstairs, knowing that Roxana was already waiting for them in the Great Hall.

Tom, Harry and Poppy could not wait for breakfast to end, since they were eager to pull through with their plan to spy on the adults in the forest. However, to their disappointment, Severus excused Roxana and him from working on the school building, stating that he had to do something urgent with Tom and Roxana with Harry.

Seeing that Poppy eyed the boys in clear disappointment, Roxana gently invited her to join Harry. "Harry needs to practise writing and reading for a while, and I also want to keep him inside this morning, since he had a bad cold last night," she explained, causing Harry to inwardly groan, sensing that everyone looked at him.

"I'd love to join Harry," Poppy said, smiling.

時代を示す絨緞

While Roxana made Poppy and Harry read The Tales of Beadle the Bard and write a few sentences about what they liked most at Hogwarts, Severus ushered Tom into his office and had a stern talk with the boy.

"Tom, I know that you had an unhappy childhood at the orphanage, that everything here is new, and that you need some time to adjust to our rules and habits," he began to speak in his soft, baritone voice that made Tom listen intensely. "Like I told you last night, Harry's childhood was at least as bad as yours, and just like you, he never had a friend before he came to Hogwarts. When I told him that I wanted to take you in as well, he was very enthusiastic and looked forward to having a brother, especially one of the same age, who would be able to attend classes with him." He paused to ensure that Tom was still listening, before he continued.

"Last night, you asked me why Harry didn't give you out to me." Tom nodded, looking at his guardian with interest. "Harry is a very sweet child, and he does not easily get angry at someone. I am sure that he was very upset yesterday; however, he probably thought that you still need time to adjust to your new situation, and he didn't want you to get in trouble with me. Therefore, he decided to keep quiet about the matter." Severus let out a long sigh. "I have only known Harry for a few months; however, he has become my son, and I love him as if he was my own. I cannot tolerate that anyone harms him. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," Tom replied immediately, noticing from the change of tone that Severus was getting upset.

"Very well," Severus continued in a calmer voice, "I intend to adopt you as well, so that you will be able to grow up and attend Hogwarts as brothers. However, I believe that I should give you a few more weeks, before you have to decide if that is what you want. If not, I could ask any of my colleagues to become your guardian."

"No sir," Tom said quickly, shaking his head. "I want to stay with you and Roxana and Harry. I'll try to be nice to Harry. It's just... difficult..." He slowly trailed off, averting his eyes to the floor.

"Tom," Severus said gently, laying his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Why is it difficult to be nice to Harry? Is he unfriendly to you in any way?"

"No, not at all," Tom said in a barely audible voice. "It's just that no one has ever been nice to me, and I haven't been nice to anyone. I don't know how to do that."

Severus smirked. "Tom, I believe that you will be able to learn how to be nice to people or at least not hurt them verbally or physically, and I am sure that Harry and Poppy will be able to help you with that."

"Okay," Tom said quietly. "I'll try."

"Very well then," Severus said kindly, deciding not to punish Tom at this time, "and if you ever have problems, come to me and we'll speak about it. I'll always be here for you." He glanced at his wrist watch, before he motioned for Tom to follow him, stating that he wanted to show him something.

Severus led Tom into his private lab and made him watch how he tended to a few simmering potions for a few minutes, before he spoke. "This is my private work space. No one has access to this room if not together with me. Potions can be very dangerous and are nothing to play with. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," Tom replied obediently.

"A few months ago, I began to teach Harry, and he is very adept at brewing. I would like you to join us in the lab as soon as I have time to continue teaching Harry. If you're interested, you may study together with Harry, although he is already quite advanced, especially for his age. Now shall we go and see what Harry and Poppy are doing?"

"Yes please," Tom said, sounding very relieved, and eagerly followed Severus into the room that Roxana was using as study room.

'I _wonder why Poppy is able to access the Founders' quarters at all_,' Severus mused, recalling that Helga had once told Dumbledore that he wouldn't be able to join them. '_Maybe it's because she is Harry's and Tom's friend, while Albus is not exactly a friend of any of us_.'

"Hi Severus, hi Tom," Harry said, smiling, as soon as the two wizards entered the room, and proudly showed Severus what he had written, causing Severus to quirk an eyebrow.

'_Roxana was right. We need to practise writing_,' he thought as he skimmed the barely readable sentences.

時代を示す絨緞

In the afternoon, the three friends headed out to play on the grounds at the same time as the adults left once again for the Forbidden Forest. Seeing that Harry carried his unicorn with him, Roxana leaned down to him and suggested in a soft voice, "Harry, would you like me to change it so that it spits out chocolate like Tom's?"

Harry's eyes began to twinkle merrily and he was about to hold out the unicorn to Roxana, before he suddenly said, "No thank you. The squid told me he loves this kind of herb drops, and I'm glad that I can give one to him whenever he wants it. However, would it be possible to change the unicorn into a squid?" He hesitantly looked from Roxana to Severus to assess if he would mind, since he had given him the unicorn.

"I'll do that," Severus spoke up and pointed his wand at the unicorn, transfiguring it into a squid that looked identical to Harry's stuffed squid form, which he had taken on the previous evening.

"Thank you Severus," Harry replied happily, gently hugging his toy.

The Giant Squid displayed an extra joyful splashing performance after Harry gave him an herb drop and pointed out that he could give him more, whenever he wanted more. "Thanks again, Splash," Harry whispered and promised to come and play with him as soon as he had the chance to come alone.

時代を示す絨緞

The three children unobtrusively followed the adults into the forest. "I thought it was much deeper into the forest," Poppy said in surprise, seeing that the adults were gathered around a few walls just behind the fifth row of trees. "We could have asked them if we may watch."

"No," Harry disagreed. "I'm sure they wouldn't have allowed us to come, even if it's not far."

The friends carefully hid behind the trees and watched in confusion how Severus and Roxana took turns laying their hands on one of the walls and spoke with someone, giving the person instructions where to add more walls, while Dumbledore and Dippet watched the scene and advised Severus and Roxana how to proceed.

'_Ah, the walls must be a part of Hogwarts that is somehow connected to the main building, and they speak to her and ask her to build up her new building_,' Harry realised, feeling totally amazed to see how the school building grew steadily.

"How are they doing that?" Poppy asked in confusion. "They only touch the walls, and they expand?"

Harry shook his head. "No, they speak to Hogwarts and instruct her what to do," he said, smiling, before a thought crossed his mind. "Poppy, can you hear the castle replying?" he asked in a soft voice.

"I hear them talking, but only Severus and Roxana. The walls don't talk back," Poppy replied, looking bewildered at the boys when Tom agreed with Harry.

"But the castle replies to them and says if it's all right or impossible."

Harry let out a long sigh. "I'm probably not supposed to tell you that, but Tom and I are descendants from the Founders of Hogwarts. That's why we can hear Hogwarts speak. Shall we try to get a bit further to watch from the other side?" he added, hoping to distract his friends from what he had just told them.

"So you and I are related to the Founders," Tom said with apparent interest. "But Poppy can't..." He interrupted himself to squeal, "Ouch."

Harry looked at the other boy in surprise, noticing that he seemed to have tripped over a root. Seeing that Tom rolled up the leg of his trousers and looked at a small, bleeding spot on his knee, Poppy smirked. "I might not be able to understand the walls, but I can mend this." She pointed her forefinger at the wound and muttered something, causing the bleeding to stop and the wound to heal immediately.

_tbc..._


	6. Chapter 6

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"Wow, Poppy, you're cool," Harry blurted out in amazement. "How did you do that?"

"Thank you," Tom uttered, casting Poppy a surprised look.

"Granny has been teaching me easy healing spells," Poppy admitted, "because she wanted to prevent me from casting accidental magic on people, which I did a few times. It happened at school three times, and the teachers always complained to my mother, although I was only helping my classmates. That's why Granny and my mother always insist that I have to spend the holidays with Granny, so that she can teach me. Ever since she taught me the first spells, I haven't done accidental magic anymore." She smiled at the boys. "I'm looking forward to going to school here at Hogwarts, where everyone is magical and no one looks strangely at me for helping others."

"You're amazing," Tom said, looking at Poppy in awe.

Poppy shook her head. "No, but I think we should go back, before they catch us. Granny would be very upset and probably ground me if she knew that we went into the forest. Also doing magic makes me tired and I want a hot cocoa."

"Severus would probably do the same if he caught us," Harry agreed, and the three friends decided to head to the kitchen.

時代を示す絨緞

It was an hour before dinner that Severus telepathically contacted Harry. 'Harry, where are you? Would you like to help in the lab for an hour? You may bring Poppy and Tom if you wish.'

'I'd love to,' Harry thought back and informed his friends, who eagerly followed him into the Potions Master's lab.

"I need to brew a few batches of different healing potions for the hospital wing. Most of them have the basic healing potion as base, which is the easiest to brew and is taught at the beginning of the first Hogwarts year," Severus explained. "Harry, do you remember how to brew it?"

"Yes sir," Harry replied, feeling very proud when Severus asked him to gather the ingredients and show the others how to cut, chop and slice everything.

Poppy and Tom eagerly followed Harry's instructions, and Severus, who closely observed the children, noticed that both of them seemed to enjoy themselves. '_In the future, Poppy was very adept at brewing, while the Dark Lord did know nothing about potions_,' he recalled, resolving to make Harry help in the lab as often as possible to strengthen his fine motor skills.

However, Severus was not the only one who kept the three children busy during the remaining weeks of the summer holidays. They spent much time helping Roxana preparing the classrooms in the primary school and helping Poppy's grandmother with her preparations for the new school year. Before they knew it the holidays came to an end.

"I hope the new kids are all as nice as you and Poppy," Tom said in the evening before the beginning of the school year.

"I hope so, too, but well, at least they won't stay at Hogwarts but return home every afternoon," Harry said soothingly.

"If someone angers us, we could ask Merlin to play a prank on him or her," Tom suggested, chuckling.

"Oh, don't remind me of Merlin," Harry groaned, cuddling his squid toy. "I'd rather get some revenge on him for pranking us all the time than ask him for help. And I don't think we should play pranks on anyone anyway, or do you want Severus to regret that he adopted us?"

"No, that's true," Tom replied thoughtfully. "Oh by the way, do you think we should call him 'Dad' now that he is our father?"

Harry let out a long sigh. "I don't know. When I first came to live with him, he told me to call him Severus, and we didn't speak about it after he adopted me. Perhaps we should ask Roxana about it," he said unsurely.

"Is Roxana is wife?" Tom queried. "Or why is she living together with us? Is it because she is related to the Founders as well?"

"No, I don't think so. I think she's just a friend," Harry replied, wondering how Tom could come up with these questions. He had never even wondered about the matter.

Roxana and Severus looked around in surprise, when both children began to laugh as they entered the room together.

"I hope you'll still be laughing tomorrow after a day of classes with Professor Ravenclaw and Professor Dippet," Severus said dryly, causing the boys to cast him anxious looks.

時代を示す絨緞

Harry felt very excited when he followed Roxana, his father, Theresa Pomfrey and Professor Dippet out onto the grounds together with Tom and Poppy.

"I'm going to live at Hogwarts with my granny so I don't have to return home every afternoon," Poppy told her friends, who smiled happily.

'_That's great. We've had so much fun together during the holidays, and it would be sad to only see Poppy in class_,' Harry thought. Over the last few weeks, the three children had become very good friends, and Harry was happier than he had ever felt before. In the time of the Founders, he had enjoyed himself as well, but it still had been different, knowing that he would have to return to the future at the end of the summer. Now however, he could make friends and hope that they would remain his friends for a long time.

"Normally, you may use the connecting door leading from the entrance hall of the main building into the entrance hall of the primary school if you wish," Roxana explained, bringing Harry back to reality. "The other students will arrive in the fireplace in the entrance hall every morning. Today, however, everyone will come to the grounds together with their parents for an opening ceremony.

'_Cool that the older students are only going to return tonight, so that Severus and Poppy's granny can come with us_,' Harry thought happily, busily cuddling his stuffed squid as he observed how other children arrived on the grounds together with their parents by Portkeys. When Professor Dippet began to speak, they learned that there would be two classes at the primary school, one for the nine and ten-year-old pupils and one for the seven and eight-year-olds. '_Most of them belong to the other class_,' Harry thought as he eyed the group with interest, and his impression was correct. While there were about fifteen older children, only seven apart from the trio belonged to his own class. Harry smiled broadly when the Headmaster told them that he was going to teach the older pupil's class, while Professor Ravenclaw was the teacher of the younger children. '_That's great. I'd prefer to have her as our teacher, and everyone seems nice_,' he mused as he excitedly entered the classroom, when he was pulled out of his thoughts when one of the girls addressed him.

"Are you still carrying around stuffed animals?" she asked in a voice that clearly told him that she thought of him being absolutely ridiculous.

Harry blushed deeply and shyly tried to hide his squid in his robe pocket.

"Why wouldn't he? Leave my brother in peace, you bitch," Tom hissed at the girl, who cast him an angry look.

"Stop fighting," Poppy threw in calmingly. "And you better be nice to Harry. His squid spits out very valuable herb drops." Her grandmother had told her that the herb drops were not only very tasty, but laced with a potion that helped with throats infections.

The other girl cast her a look of disdain as she took a seat in the first row. Poppy, Tom and Harry sat behind her, chatting animatedly until Roxana began with the class. While he listened to Roxana, Harry couldn't take his eyes from the girl in front of him. On the one hand, she really seemed to be an annoying swot, since her finger shot up into the air as soon as Roxana had asked a question; on the other hand, Harry somehow found her very interesting, although he wouldn't be able to explain why. She had long, brown hair, which was tightly pulled into plaits on both sides of her head, and her eyes were as green as his own.

"Harry, are you dreaming?" Roxana's voice suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts, and Harry noticed terrified that everyone else had already begun to draw a picture.

"Oh sorry," he muttered and hurriedly set to work, noticing from the corner of his eyes that the girl turned around, casting him a depreciative look.

During lunch, which the pupils of the primary school took at a new, fifth House table in the Great Hall, everyone gathered around the trio, listening with interest when Poppy, Harry and Tom told them about Hogwarts. Only the 'plaits girl' as Harry thought of her took no special notice of the three of them but quietly spoke with two girls from the older pupils' class.

"Tom," Harry whispered to his brother at the end of the meal. "I'll quickly go home and leave my squid at home."

"Why would you do that?" Tom replied in surprise. "Because of what that bitch said?" Seeing that Harry averted his eyes to the floor," he continued, "Don't listen to her. No one else finds it strange. Let's go together, and I'll fetch my dragon. We can eat a chocolate dragon together with Poppy later on."

時代を示す絨緞

"Now how was your first day at the primary school?" Severus asked, when the two boys were sitting on each side of him at the Head table waiting for the Welcoming Feast to begin, smiling when all three children excitedly began to speak at the same time.

"It was cool. We learned a lot," Tom blurted out happily. "Roxana even told us how to summon the quill from our table without even having to reach out for it."

"And she made my writing all pink and glimmery with some spell," Poppy added, smiling. "It looked beautiful."

"The children were much fun," Harry said, smiling, "except for one girl. She..."

"She is a bitch," Tom interrupted him, sounding very upset as he told Severus what the girl had said about the toy squid.

"But Minerva knows a lot," Poppy threw in. "I wished I knew so much."

"But you're able to help people, Poppy. That's totally special," Harry said softly. "She is very pretty, but for some reason, she doesn't like me."

"Minerva?" Severus asked, smirking as he realised that Harry apparently was unable to make a connection between the girl and the older professor, whom he had met in the future. '_Of course, seven-year-olds still don't bother about family names_,' he told himself, resolving not to explain the matter to the boy. '_I'm sure we're going to have much fun, if they already begin to fight on their first day of classes_,' he thought, knowing all too well how stubborn his former teacher could be.

時代を示す絨緞

To the trio's delight, they also had a flying class once a week and all children of their class thoroughly enjoyed flying. One day, after hearing Roxana and Severus talk about the Quidditch matches, Harry suggested, "Can't we set up a Quidditch team and participate in the Quidditch tournament?"

"I don't think they'll let us," Poppy said thoughtfully. "My granny told me only a few days ago that she's glad the first years aren't allowed to play, because so many students get injured playing Quidditch."

"Let's ask them anyway," Tom said, excitedly, and ran over to where Roxana was having a discussion with Minerva and a boy, who apparently had pulled her hair. "Professor, professor," Tom interrupted the conversation, "can we play Quidditch against the House teams? Please!"

The edges of Roxana's mouth were about to stretch into a smile at Tom's puppy eyes look, but then she became stern and said, "Tom, you may not interrupt us like this. I was just speaking with Minerva and Bob. Bob, apologize to Minerva and don't do it again." Seeing that the boy obeyed, she turned back to Tom and his friends, who were now standing behind him. "I'll speak with the Headmaster," she said slowly. "Maybe we could try if we use softer balls instead of the Bludgers."

時代を示す絨緞

That evening, Severus told Harry and Tom after dinner, "Tom and Harry, you need to go home and go to bed on your own today. Roxana and I have to attend a staff meeting, and it might take a few hours. If you need us, you must call Cicero and tell him to fetch us."

"No problem, sir," Tom quickly reassured him, unobtrusively squeezing Harry's arm.

'_Oh no, what is he planning?_' Harry wondered and said, "That's okay. Good night, Severus." He allowed Tom to pull him out of the Great Hall, before he asked, "What's wrong Tom?"

Tom chuckled. "I heard that Madam Pomfrey told Poppy the same. She'll be alone as well, and I thought we could do something together. Let's go after Poppy. I already have an idea."

'_Tom is completely different from when he came to us a few weeks ago. He is much nicer now_,' Harry thought as he happily followed his brother through the halls that were still crowded with students, who were on their way back to their Houses. The two boys stopped dead in their tracks when they reached the entrance to Madam Pomfrey's quarters, realising that the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff that was guarding the entrance wouldn't easily let them in if Madam Pomfrey was absent. "Maybe we should go through the hospital wing," Harry suggested. "The door between Pomfrey's office and her living room is always open, and Poppy's room is right next to it."

"But what if Pomfrey is still there?" Tom asked thoughtfully when they reached the entrance to the hospital wing. "We can't just go in and say we want to visit Poppy. It's bed time already."

Harry scrunched his face in thought, before he glanced around to confirm that they were alone. "I have an idea," he finally spoke up. "I'm not sure if it works though." Seeing that Tom looked at him in expectation, he continued, "I'll try to change into hiding covers, like our bed covers, but I'll make them invisible, I mean, so that they'll make you invisible."

Tom cast his brother a concerned look. Since Harry had transformed into the toy squid two months ago, he had never changed into an object again, and Tom was not even aware of his abilities. "Are you feeling all right?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes, I can change into objects," Harry replied impatiently. "Now be quiet; I need to concentrate." He absentmindedly observed a spider climb up the opposite wall, while he wished to become a hiding cover for his brother.

時代を示す絨緞

Tom looked at Harry, startled, when his brother all of a sudden vanished. Instead, he found a large, white cloth on the floor that was glimmering. '_He can change into anything he wants to become?_' he thought in disbelief. '_I thought I was good at magic, but Harry is much better, and Poppy can help people. Only I can't do anything special_,' he thought sadly, when a small voice at the back of his head spoke up. '_The other children at school can't do anything special either, and I am lucky because I have a brother like Harry, who is like a twin brother to me. Everyone else is alone or has much older or younger siblings, which is probably not as much fun. And I also have Poppy, who is a good friend._' He was brought back to reality when Harry's voice penetrated his mind.

'Tom, what are you doing?' Harry thought to him. 'Try to use me as a cover.'

Tom hurriedly hid under the cover, not a second too early, because Theresa chose that instant to come out of the hospital wing and stride in the direction of the Headmaster's office. Tom hesitantly entered the hospital wing and stepped over to Poppy, who was just talking with a student in the first bed next to her grandmother's office.

Tom observed quietly how Poppy made the older girl drink a potion and said sternly, "You may return to your dormitory, but if you don't feel better in the morning, come back to see my granny again." When the girl left, Poppy returned to Theresa's office and stepped into their private quarters.

"Poppy," Tom shouted behind her, completely forgetting that he was invisible.

"Tom?" Poppy queried, looking around in confusion.

"Oh sorry," Tom replied and quickly pulled the covers off, placing them on the floor next to him.

"What are you doing here?" Poppy asked, smiling at the boy.

"We thought we could do something together, while the adults are in their meeting, and I just had an idea," Tom said eagerly. "We could brew a funny joke potion together. What do you think, Harry?"

"I'd like that, Tom," Poppy replied gently, before she looked at Tom, startled, and asked, "Harry?"

Tom stared at the white cloth next to his feet, wondering why Harry did not transform back already. "That's Harry," he said, pointing to the white cover on the floor, causing Poppy to give him a sharp look.

"Good joke, Tom, but where is Harry?" she asked urgently. "Is he in trouble? And where did you get that invisibility cover by the way?"

"It's Harry," Tom repeated, getting impatient. "He changed into that thing so I could hide from your granny. It made me invisible."

'Tom,' he suddenly heard Harry think to him. 'I'm sorry, I can't change back now. I'm too tired. I think I used too much magic.'

"Oh no," Tom said, shocked, and told Poppy what he had just heard.

Poppy carefully picked up the shiny cloth from the floor, cradling it in her arms. "Are you really Harry? Do you want me to call Granny? She can change you back easily."

'No,' Harry thought to Tom, who repeated the reply to Poppy.

"Well then let's take him back home and put him to bed, so that he can sleep. Maybe he can change back later on," Poppy decided, and the two friends quickly made their way to Tom's and Harry's room.

Seeing that Poppy carefully laid Harry onto his bed, Tom sat on his own, burying his face in his hands.

"Tom?" Poppy asked. "Is something wrong?"

Tom shook his head. "No," he said slowly. "I wished I could do something special, like you can do healing and Harry can change into random things."

Poppy quickly let her eyes wander towards the door, confirming that they were alone, before she hesitantly sat next to Tom on the edge of his bed and hugged him. "You are special, Tom, and I like you very much. You're also very good at Maths, the best of our class. And I envy Harry and you, because you're twins and always have someone to play."

"Is that true?" Tom looked up in surprise.

"Of course," Poppy replied, smiling.

Tom just opened his mouth to reply, when Harry suddenly transformed back into his human form. "I'm sorry," he said, sleepily rubbing his eyes.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Poppy asked softly. "I still can't believe that you can change into objects."

"I'm fine," Harry confirmed and stood from his bed. "Well then, shall we brew something?"

"Won't we get ourselves in trouble?" Poppy asked sceptically, causing the boys to grin.

"Not if we clean up afterwards," Harry said slowly, "but what do you want to brew, Tom?"

"Maybe we could brew a joke potion to turn Minnie's head into a parrot's head," Tom suggested, causing Harry to giggle.

"No," Poppy contradicted firmly. "We won't do something to harm anyone or to prank one person."

"I know what we can do," Harry said thoughtfully. "Professor Slytherin taught me a potion that changes people's hair to different colours. We could ask Misty to put it into everyone's juice at lunch tomorrow. It's easy to brew and won't take long."

Poppy and Tom agreed, and the three children used the Potions classroom to brew their potion. "Are you sure that it is correctly brewed and won't harm?" Poppy asked sternly, causing Harry to sniff at the lime green liquid.

"I'm sure," he finally said and poured the potion into a small phial, handing it to Poppy, before he hurriedly began to clean their work space.

時代を示す絨緞

During their morning classes, Tom and Harry could not wait for lunchtime to come. Harry was still very sleepy from the magic, which he had performed in the evening, and when Roxana instructed the children to copy a text from their book onto a parchment, his hand writing was completely unreadable. Shortly after Roxana scolded Harry for his writing, she reprimanded Tom for once again pulling Minerva's hair, so that they boys' mood was not the best when they headed to the Great Hall.

'_I hope the potion works_,' Harry thought, '_and I hope they won't find out who brewed it. Our classmates won't know, but Severus might, and he'll be very angry if he finds out that we brewed in the classroom without his supervision_.'

He was pulled out of his thoughts when one after another his classmates' hair turned into various colours. Before he had even time to register to which colour his own hair changed, he felt Roxana's hand on his shoulder and was told, "Harry, please come with me for a moment."

"I'm sure that was the twins' doing," he heard Minerva say as he rose from his seat in a daze.

時代を示す絨緞

Harry anxiously followed Roxana into a small room adjacent to the Great Hall. "I'm sorry," he apologized, before his guardian even opened her mouth.

Roxana gave him a sharp look. "Harry, are you sick?" she asked in concern. "You have barely eaten anything today, and your performance in class was not up to your usual standard."

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry," he repeated, "I'm fine. I'm just very tired." Seeing that Roxana looked at him in apparent concern, he admitted that he had used too much magic transforming the previous evening.

"Harry, you must be more careful," Roxana said sternly, carefully feeling his forehead with the back of her hand. "You probably depleted your magic, which I don't want you to do again. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. I'm sorry," Harry replied in a small voice, inefficiently trying to hide a yawn.

"Harry, do you want to return to your room and take a nap?" Roxana asked gently, causing Harry to fiercely shake his head.

He felt as if someone poured ice cold water over his head when Roxana continued, "As to the unsupervised brewing of a prank potion..."

"I'm sorry," he said, terrified, wondering if Roxana had merely believed Minerva's accusation, or if she and Severus actually knew what they had done.

"So it was you," Roxana said, smirking. "Since it was the first time, I will not tell your father about it. However, if you ever brew on your own again without Severus or me knowing what you're doing, rest assured that I will tell him and you will be punished." She let out a long sigh, glancing at her wrist watch. "You may attend your afternoon classes if you want. However, you must not fly, and you'll spend the rest of the day in our quarters."

Harry agreed and followed his guardian back into the Great Hall, where his friends cast him concerned looks. "She only wanted to know why I'm so tired today," he replied to the unasked questions.

"You better sleep at night instead of playing pranks on others," Minerva said in her high, childish voice, causing Harry to glare at the girl.

"We feel very honoured that you deem us adept enough at Potions to brew such a thing," Tom threw in, before he led a spoon full of ice cream into his mouth.

'_Tom is brilliant_,' Harry thought, smiling proudly at his yellow haired brother, while green haired Minerva stood from the table and stomped off in a huff.

時代を示す絨緞

The last afternoon class was the Flying class, and Roxana gathered the children on the Quidditch pitch. "Yesterday, I had a discussion with the Headmaster and a few other professors, and it was decided that the first years and both primary school classes will be allowed to participate in the Hogwarts Quidditch tournament from this school year onwards," Roxana explained, smiling when a huge applause followed her words. "The Bludgers will be exchanged to much softer balls when our class is involved in a match. Now we need one of you to become the Quidditch captain..."

"Tom!" Harry threw in, before he actually registered what he was doing.

"Yes, Tom!" Poppy echoed.

Everyone else but Minerva, who cast the trio an angry glare, agreed, and Roxana asked, "Tom, would you be willing to become the captain?"

'_Why do they want me?_' Tom wondered, but happily agreed, feeling very grateful towards Harry and Poppy.

"Very well then, you must decide which position you want to fill and whom you want to have as your Seeker, Keeper, Chasers and Beaters. The three of your classmates, who remain, will become reserve players," Roxana explained gently.

"I want Harry for Seeker," Tom said decisively, "and I'd like to become the Keeper."

Roxana decided to hold tryouts for the Chaser and Beater positions, and while Tom played Keeper, she and Harry watched from the ground. "I'd take Poppy and Minerva for Chasers," he advised his brother as soon as Tom landed on the grounds, and Tom readily agreed.

'_I wonder if that will help to improve our relationship to Minerva_,' Harry thought as he returned home together with Roxana and Tom when the class was over. '_I really prefer to get along with everyone_.'

Unfortunately, their rivalry should last until the end of their first Hogwarts year as students, when something happened that made Minerva reconsider her disapproval of Harry and his brother.

_tbc..._


	7. Chapter 7

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Only two weeks later, the first Quidditch match of the year took place, which was not Gryffindor versus Slytherin anymore but the first primary school class versus the second primary school class. In front of the whole school, Harry managed to catch the Snitch and end the game after mere seven minutes.

When Harry landed on the grounds and under huge applause handed the struggling ball to Professor Dippet, who was refereeing the game, not only his team, but also the Quidditch captains of the four Houses gathered around him. Everyone wanted to know how he had been able to catch the Snitch that was supposed to hide between the low hanging clouds that were completely covering the sky on that cold October day. However, Harry merely shrugged. "I don't know. It was there. I was just lucky."

The younger primary school pupils held a huge victory party in the school building. The Hogwarts house-elves had prepared a huge buffet, to which they invited the second class as well as the Quidditch teams of the four Houses, who eagerly followed the invitation as it gave them a first opportunity to get a glimpse at the interior of the new school building.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the party; however, Harry couldn't help feeling annoyed by the attention he received due to his spectacularly early catch of the Snitch. He unobtrusively followed Tom out into the corridor, when his brother went to wash his hands, and, unaware of the fact that Minerva was observing them from a dark alcove a few metres away, said, "Tom, I'm going to change into a book. Can you please put me into your robe pocket?"

"Why?" Tom queried in surprise, only to realise that Harry had already transformed.

A small book with a red cover was lying on the floor just where Harry had been an instant before, and Tom hurriedly picked it up and hid it in his robe pocket. He returned to the party, and from his dark spot in the pocket, Harry listened to the conversations around Tom, slightly beginning to curiously lean out of the pocket in order to see what was happening around him. Unfortunately, a few minutes later, he leaned out too far and lost his balance. Unbeknownst to Tom, who was engrossed in a conversation with the Gryffindor Quidditch team, he fell out of the pocket, onto the floor. Instants later, he felt himself being picked up, seeing himself face to face with Minerva. The girl pressed the book against her robes and hurriedly left the room to sit on a nearby window sill in the hall.

'_What is she doing now?_' Harry wondered when Minerva carefully opened the book and apparently looked at the pages, which Harry could not see anymore, because he could only watch what happened in front of the front cover.

"This is about the time of the Founders of Hogwarts," he heard Minerva mumble to herself. "Wow, this is interesting."

'_This feels tickly_,' Harry realised when Minerva carefully turned page after page, apparently completely engrossed in her reading. He couldn't help chuckling, hoping that Minerva wouldn't realise that the pages in the book were alive.

"You're not a real book. Your pages are moving. You're Harry, aren't you? How come you can turn into such an old book?" Minerva suddenly asked, causing Harry to panic.

'_How can she know?_' he thought, terrified, and finally remembered to telepathically inform Tom about his whereabouts.

Instants later, Tom stormed into the hall, closely followed by Poppy. He held out his hand and said in a dangerously quiet voice, "Give that back this instant!"

"Why?" Minerva asked innocently. "I'm just reading a book."

"It's mine. Give it back," Tom said threateningly, reaching for the book.

However, instead of giving up, Minerva merely pressed the book closely against her chest, glaring at Tom.

"Minerva, please give the book back to Tom," Poppy said kindly. "It is his, and he needs it back."

'_She probably realised that it's me_,' Harry thought, feeling very grateful towards the always calm and kind girl.

"No," Minerva replied, smirking. "I'm just reading it, and it's very interesting. Have you ever read it? Can you tell me who is Ceridwen?"

Harry nearly choked. '_Ceridwen? What is that book about?_' he thought in shock.

Apparently realising that Minerva was not inclined to give up, Tom forcefully pushed the girl off the windowsill, causing her to fall to the ground. Before Harry even knew what was happening, he hit the ground as well, suddenly feeling very sore.

"Tom, what do you think you're doing?" Poppy asked angrily, kneeling down in front of Minerva, who was sitting against the wall and sobbed, holding her head. "Are you all right, Minerva?" she asked kindly.

"My head hurts," Minerva admitted, glaring at Tom.

"I'll take you to my granny. She'll give you a potion and you'll feel better in a blink," Poppy said soothingly, turning to Harry. "Harry, can you change back please? Are you all right?"

Knowing that for some reason Minerva seemed to be aware of his secret anyway, Harry slowly changed back. "I'm fine," he said quietly, resolving to ask Severus for a headache potion later on.

"Tom and Harry, tell Professor Ravenclaw where we are. Minerva, come with me," Poppy instructed them and led Minerva out of the building.

"What are we supposed to tell Roxana?" Tom asked, giving Harry a frightened look. "I didn't want to hurt her. I just wanted..."

"I know," Harry said soothingly. "I'm sorry. It's my fault, because I was so stupid and changed into the book. Let's go. I'll speak with her."

Roxana was very angry, especially when Poppy returned alone and told her that Minerva had a slight concussion and had to stay in the hospital wing overnight.

"Tom and Harry, go back to our quarters now. You're grounded for the rest of the day. We'll speak about the matter tonight, together with your father," Roxana told the two boys, sounding very upset.

時代を示す絨緞

When the two boys returned to their room, Tom asked in a small voice, "Harry, do you think Severus will be very angry?"

Harry sighed, unconsciously rubbing his forehead. "He probably will, because you hurt Minnie. On the other hand, it was her own fault. Tom, I wonder what Minerva was talking about. I don't know what's in the book," he said pensively, wondering if he should let Tom in on his secret. '_But Severus told me I shouldn't_,' he thought and decided against it. '_I'll ask Severus to check the book later on_.'

"Do you want me to take a look at the book?" Tom asked kindly, causing Harry to shake his head.

"Thanks but no, I don't want to change into my book form again now. Tom, I think you should go and apologize to Minerva," he suggested carefully. '_I hope he won't get angry at me_.'

"Only if she apologizes to me for taking my book from me," Tom replied harshly.

Harry sighed. "Apparently, she knew that it was me; I have no idea why. Anyway, I think..."

"Well, then she has to apologize to you for abducting you," Tom interrupted him, smirking. "But we're grounded anyway, aren't we?"

'_That's true, and I'm too tired to transform into an invisibility cloth right now_,' Harry thought. "Tom, shall we go and look for Severus? I'd like to get over with that conversation as soon as possible."

Tom agreed, and the boys headed to Severus' lab, knowing that he would most likely spend his Saturday afternoon there. Severus quickly put the potion, to which he was just tending, under a stasis charm and called the boys in, quirking an eyebrow in surprise, as they usually did not disturb him when he was working in the lab.

"Severus, we're sorry to disturb you," Harry began to speak in a small voice. "Do you have a few minutes?"

"Of course," Severus said and, after making sure that the simmering potions would be all right for the next hour, followed the boys into the living room.

"Severus, I'm sorry," Tom blurted out and quickly told his guardian what had happened, causing Severus to cast a questioning look at Harry.

"Harry, do you have anything to add to this?" he asked in a stern but friendly voice.

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled, averting his eyes to the floor. "I know I should not have transformed, and I'm sorry I bothered Tom. It's all my fault."

Severus thoughtfully cleared his throat, before he slowly began to speak. "Harry, I understand why you wanted to get away from all the attention; however, you should just have left, after informing Roxana of course. I hope that you learned not to transform in public ever again if not for an emergency."

"Yes Severus, I'm sorry," Harry said apologetically, making a mental note to remember his promise the next time he was tempted to change into something.

"Tom," Severus continued, "I understand why you became angry seeing that Minerva was harassing Harry. However, you must not hurt anyone. You should have called Roxana or sent Poppy to call her. I am very proud of the two of you; however, I do not wish to ever hear again that one of my sons hurt classmates, especially not in a way that they end up having to stay in the hospital wing," he said sternly. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," Tom said, sadly averting his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Severus," Harry spoke up in a small voice, "could Tom and I perhaps brew some fruit drops for Minerva? We'd like to apologize."

A rare smile stole itself onto Severus' face as he looked at the boys. "That is a very good idea," he said warmly. "Tom, would you like to help as well?"

Tom agreed, and during the next hour, the two boys busied themselves in Severus' lab brewing fruit drops for their classmate. "You may go and give them to her in the evening or tomorrow morning. We'll ask Madam Pomfrey at dinner if you may visit her," Severus decided. "Now since Roxana grounded you for the rest of the day, you'll return to your room for the time being. Harry, please remain for a moment."

Tom quietly left the lab, while Harry looked at his guardian with mixed feelings. '_What might he want? I hope he's not angry at me because I transformed_,' he thought worriedly.

Severus eyed the boy in concern. "Harry, are you feeling all right?" he asked gently.

"My head hurts a bit," Harry admitted in a small voice. "Could I perhaps get a headache potion?"

"Did you get hurt when you were in your book form?" Severus queried, giving him a sharp look.

Harry nodded. "But it's not bad and I don't want Tom to know. He'd feel bad about it, but he didn't intend to hurt me. It was an accident," he said quickly.

Severus smirked, summoning a small phial from his lab. "Better now?" he asked after making Harry take the potion. When the child nodded and thanked him, he sighed contentedly before changing the topic.

"Harry, how could you catch the Snitch so quickly?" he asked with interest. "I have never seen a Quidditch match that ended after seven minutes."

Harry let out a yawn, before he replied, "I have no idea, sir. The Snitch was just there. I was very lucky today."

If Severus had any doubt that Harry had said the truth, he was going to become reassured during the following years, because during the four years in primary school Harry never again ended a Quidditch match so early, although he managed to catch the Snitch in every match, in which his team participated.

時代を示す絨緞

At the end of the school year, Roxana and Severus decided to spend the first half of the summer holidays in the past. "Tom has changed so much that I believe we can tell him about his relationship to the Founders and the tapestry of time," Severus said thoughtfully. "Harry will be thrilled to visit your sister and her colleagues."

Roxana chuckled. "He'll probably be even happier to see Ceridwen."

"That might be true," Severus agreed, smirking. '_I just hope Roxana will come back to the future with us. Somehow, she already belongs to our family, and not only the boys but I would miss her if she didn't._' The annoying little voice at the back of his head, which always used to pester him with unwanted thoughts, told him, '_Well then you have to tell her that. Otherwise, she won't know_.' '_Oh just shut up_,' Severus thought back, furiously.

時代を示す絨緞

Harry and Tom loved being in the past. Although it was the first visit for Tom, he quickly adapted to the different time, which was easier for him than it had been for Harry before, because he always remained together with Harry and Ceridwen. "Ceridwen," he said in surprise when Harry introduced his best friend of the past. "Somewhere I've heard that name before."

'_Oh right_,' Harry remembered. '_I need to ask Severus what my book is about. I keep forgetting about it_.'

It was a few days before the beginning of the next school year, when they were back in their usual time, that he finally remembered to speak with Roxana and Severus about the matter. Tom was in bed with a cold, and Harry, Roxana and Severus were sitting in the living room reading books. "Roxana, Severus," he hesitantly spoke up. "Could you do me a favour?" Seeing that the adults looked at him in expectation, he sighed. "Last year, when I transformed into a book and Minerva looked at it, she asked Tom who Ceridwen was. I'd like to know what exactly the book is about."

Severus gave him a sharp look. "Do you want to transform and have us take a look?" he offered gently, glancing at Roxana, who nodded approvingly.

"Yes please," Harry said, suddenly feeling very excited. He quickly changed into his usual book form, chuckling when Severus carefully picked him up. '_Tickles_,' he thought to his adoptive father, seeing that he quirked an eyebrow in silent question upon noticing that the pages were vibrating.

Roxana and Severus began to gently turn the pages and soon seemed to be completely engrossed in their lecture. '_Like Minerva last year_,' Harry thought in annoyance. '_I should have asked Poppy. Maybe she would have given me an answer earlier_.' He impatiently thought to the adults, 'And? What is it about?'

"Harry, this is amazing," Severus finally voiced; however, he did not further elaborate, and, feeling annoyed and bored, Harry slowly drifted off to sleep.

時代を示す絨緞

Severus couldn't take his eyes off the book. It showed Harry's childhood, as far back as Harry was able to remember, from the child's point of view, including his thoughts and feelings. There was little about the Dursleys, but it was enough to understand how his early childhood had been. He rolled his eyes at himself upon realising how frightened of him the boy had been at first. As he continued to read, he could feel the boy's happiness upon having a family of his own. However, he nearly choked taking in the part about Tom wondering about his relationship to Roxana. '_The boy is right_,' he mused. '_I need to think about that. No_,' he corrected himself. '_I thought about it already, but I must speak with Roxana about the matter_.' Glancing to his left, he realised that Roxana's cheeks had turned bright pink in obvious embarrassment.

"Roxana," he hesitantly began to speak, clearing his throat to win a few seconds. However, before he could continue, the alarm, which Roxana had placed on Tom in order to be alerted when the child needed them, went off, and Roxana and Severus stood from the sofa and headed over to the boys' room.

While Severus carefully placed Book Harry onto his bed, Roxana stepped to Tom's side. She gently shook his shoulder to wake him up from the nightmare he seemed to have about being sent back to the orphanage. "Mum, Dad, Harry, please stay with me," he begged hoarsely.

"Tom, it's all right, we're not going anywhere," Roxana said kindly, gently stroking his flushed cheeks. "We're your family now, and we love you very much."

"Mummy," Tom mumbled, seemingly relaxing under her soft touch.

With a small smile on his lips, Severus quietly left the room, waiting for Roxana in the living room. '_She is wonderful_,' he thought. '_I shouldn't repeat the mistake I made when I let Lily go. I should ask her now_.' He strode back into his bedroom, fetching a small, blue box from one of the drawers, pocketing it in determination. Four months had already passed since he had bought the ring in a small shop in Hogsmeade, and he had meant to give it to her and speak with her, but somehow he was lacking the courage. '_I have to get through this_,' he thought and hesitantly handed Roxana the box as soon as she returned from the boys' room.

"Will you become my wife?" he asked in his soft, baritone voice, looking straight into her warm, emerald eyes.

Roxana let out a long sigh, before she slowly shook her head and said in a barely audible voice, "I am sorry, Severus."

Severus looked at Roxana in shock. "I understand," he said tonelessly and was just about to stand up from the sofa and head to the quiet and comfort of his private lab, when she laid her hand on his arm.

"Severus," she said, sighing. "I assume that you heard what Tom called me earlier. You know that they both call me Mum, when they're sick and needy. It happened before. However, you do not have to marry me in order for me to be a mother to them. I will help you raise them like I promised a year ago when we came to this time together."

Severus tried to swallow a lump that seemed to be stuck in his throat. "Roxana," he said quietly, "I did not suggest that you become my wife because of the children, but because..." He interrupted himself to lean over, pulling the green eyed witch into a long and passionate kiss, inwardly sighing in relief when he felt her answer the kiss.

時代を示す絨緞

In the morning, Roxana and Severus told Harry and Tom that they were going to get married next summer. The two boys exchanged an excited glance, and Tom turned to Roxana, asking, "Will you be our real mummy then?"

"I already am your mum, aren't I?" Roxana asked, smiling, causing the two boys to nod eagerly.

"That's true," Harry said pensively, feeling very happy to have a real family with two parents and a brother, who was like a twin brother, although he was seven months older than himself.

時代を示す絨緞

The wedding took place in two parts, one in the Founder's time, and one in the time, in which the Snapes were usually living, and the boys enjoyed the ceremonies greatly.

"I liked that in the past more," Tom said to Harry one evening. "They made such a huge fuss about everything that it was a bit funny."

"That's true," Harry agreed. "Do you know what I think is really funny?" Seeing that Tom looked at him in expectance, he said, "That all our names are different. You're Tom Riddle-Snape, I'm Harry Potter-Snape, Dad is Severus Snape and Mum Roxana Ravenclaw-Snape. Still, when someone asks us for our names, we just say Snape."

"Hmmm, that's right," Tom agreed thoughtfully. "Harry, do you think Mum and Dad will have more children, now that they're married?"

A huge smile spread over Harry's face at the thought. "Wow, that would be so cool," he blurted out, "and we're going to get to babysit them."

Tom seemed not to be convinced yet. "Harry, don't you think they'll abandon us if they have their own children? We're only adopted."

Harry looked at his brother in shock and vehemently shook his head. "No, they'll never do that. They told us that they love us more than once, and anyway, whatever happens, we're not alone anymore, because we have each other in any case."

時代を示す絨緞

During the following months, nothing happened, and the two boys slowly forgot about their worries. Both of them were a bit sad that they did not have their mother as teacher anymore, since the upper primary school class was taught by Headmaster Dippet, who was not nearly as much fun as Roxana.

"Don't worry, boys," Severus told them one day. "Eventually, your mother is going to teach Charms at Hogwarts, perhaps in two years' time, when you're going to be first years."

"Dad," Harry hesitantly asked, "do you think everyone of our class is going to attend Hogwarts together with us?"

"Of course," Severus said in surprise. "Why are you asking?"

Harry let out a long sigh as he explained, "During the last two years, there was not a day, in which we didn't get into a fight with Minerva. We get along well with all the other kids, but not with her. And this year, it wasn't different so far. And Dad," he said sincerely, looking straight at his father, "I promise that I never began."

Severus smiled, gently patting Harry's head. "I know that, Harry," he said gently. "Don't worry about that too much now. You still have one and a half years, before you're going to become students, and even then, you might end up in different Houses and perhaps won't even have classes together."

"Thank you, Dad," Harry said, feeling very much consoled by his father's words, when a different thought crossed his mind. "Dad, do you think Tom and I are going to be sorted into the same House? I wouldn't want to be separated from him."

Severus remained thoughtful for a moment as he recalled his former life in the future and his interactions with an older Tom as well as Harry's parents. Finally, he said, "Harry, I don't know where the Sorting Hat will place you. However, remember that you can return home at any time, even during the school year. If you want to study together with Tom and Poppy, you can always meet in your own room or in Poppy's room if her grandmother agrees."

"That's true Dad. Thank you," Harry said, smiling at Severus in relief, before he hurried away to speak with Tom and Poppy about the matter.

Ever since then, the Sorting was a recurring topic among the three children, and, as much as they enjoyed themselves, they couldn't wait for their fourth primary school year to end, so that they were finally going to become students of the Hogwarts main school.

時代を示す絨緞

"I hope we'll still be able to play Quidditch on one of the House teams," Tom said one day, causing Harry to smirk. "What?" Tom queried, quirking an eyebrow at Harry in a very Snape-ish manner.

Harry grinned. "Last week after the Quidditch match, the captains of the House teams came to me and promised to keep the Seeker position open for me," he admitted, "and I told them that I'm going to play Seeker if they let the two of you into the team as well. All four of them promised to reserve a position for you as soon as they know where you're going to get sorted."

"Oh Harry, you're the best," Poppy said, excitedly pulling Harry into a bear hug. "Thank you so much. I'd love to continue playing Chaser, although my Granny is not too happy about it."

時代を示す絨緞

Usually, the Snapes spent most of the summer holidays in the Founders' time, where the professors taught Harry and Tom together with Ceridwen Runes, Charms, Potions and Latin. Harry and Tom loved being in the Founders' time and felt completely at home in both times. Although the Founders in fact were their many times great grandparents, for Harry and Tom they were their aunts and uncles, not only because Rowena was Roxana's sister, but also because the four Founders were about the same age as Roxana and Severus.

At the end of their last primary school year, Severus told Harry and Tom, "This year, we will not travel to the past but remain here during the whole summer."

"Oh no," Harry blurted out in clear disappointment.

"That's unfair," Tom agreed, pouting. "Uncle Salazar promised to show me his pet when I'm eleven, and now that I'm finally eleven..."

"Tom!" Severus interrupted him sharply. "We are not going to stay here because we don't want to go."

"Why then, Dad?" Harry asked quietly, looking sadly at Severus.

Severus smiled and laid his arms around the boys' shoulders, before he explained, "Next year, there will be six of us. You're going to become big brothers."

Harry and Tom stared at Severus in surprise, before they blurted out simultaneously, "Six?"

"According to Madam Pomfrey, your mother is pregnant with two little girls," Severus replied, smiling happily.

"That's so cool," Harry said in awe. "May we baby-sit them?"

"Of course," Severus said, smirking. "If everything goes well, the twins are going to be born shortly after Christmas." He smiled at his obviously excited sons.

"And did you already decide on a name?" Harry queried, quirking an eyebrow at his father.

"No, not yet, but you're very welcome to think about names as well. In a few months' time, we'll have a family meeting and decide on the names together."

"Will we be able to travel to the Founders' time next summer?" Harry asked in a small voice, giving his father a hopeful look.

"Of course," Severus replied, smiling. "It's just that the time travel affords a lot of magic, which would be too much for the unborn babies."

時代を示す絨緞

As disappointed as Harry and Tom were, they barely had time to become bored during the holidays, since Roxana and Severus kept their sons busy. While Roxana taught them useful charms, partly of her own time, partly of the future, Severus taught them Potions and Occlumency, which he gave up after a few days, realising that it was still too difficult for Harry, although Tom seemed to be very adept. While the boys were busy in the morning, they were allowed to spend the afternoons together with Poppy. Too soon for their liking, the holidays came to an end.

In the morning of the first of September, Severus and Theresa Pomfrey apparated the three friends to King's Cross, where they happily greeted their friends from the primary school. Only four of their former seven classmates were returning to Hogwarts for their first year, and the seven new first years chose to sit in one compartment together.

'_I'm on the Hogwarts Express_,' Harry thought with excitement. '_During the last years, I always wanted to board the train but was never allowed. I just hope I'm going to get sorted together with Tom and Poppy and not together with Minerva._' He glanced at the girl, noticing that she had arranged her hair to a bun. '_I don't mind the others. They're all nice_,' he mused as he absentmindedly listening to his classmates' conversation that mostly revolved about the Hogwarts Houses and the Sorting.

_tbc..._


	8. Chapter 8

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"That's what the boats are for," Poppy said, gasping as they boarded the small boats together with the other first years. "I didn't dare ask Granny about them."

"We didn't ask either," Tom replied, chuckling.

During the summer holidays, the three friends had once again thoroughly explored the castle and had found the boats at the lower part of the castle, just on the edge of the lake. Ever since then they had been wondering why they were there, since they had never seen anyone riding a boat on the lake near Hogwarts.

"Hogwarts looks very pretty from here," Harry spoke up, sighing happily as the boat moved towards the castle in a fast speed.

"Do you know how the Sorting is going to take place?" Ben, who had been in their class in primary school and was sitting in the boat with the trio, asked.

"Yes, every first year has to fight a troll, catch a Snitch, transform into an animal and juggle five wands, and depending what you can do best, it will decided to which House you're going to belong," Tom replied with an honest expression on his face that made Poppy and Harry chuckle inwardly, while Ben's expression turned to horror.

"That's not true, is it?" he asked in a small voice.

"Oh it is," Tom said and explained, "Those who can catch the Snitch belong into Slytherin, those who are good at juggling will be sorted into Ravenclaw, those who are good at transforming into an animal into Gryffindor, and those who can fight a troll into Hufflepuff."

"A nice story, but there is nothing you have to worry about, Ben," Poppy informed the boy in a soft voice, noticing that he had paled visibly. "There is a Hat that does the Sorting," she said soothingly.

Twenty minutes later, the first years found themselves standing in front of the Head table in the Great Hall, listening to the Hat's rambling about House unity. Harry listened absentmindedly as the Hat said something about being unwilling to let students talk him into sorting him into certain Houses just because they had been at the primary school together. '_What was that?_' he thought, terrified, glancing at Tom, who was standing next to him, seemingly deeply engrossed in his own thoughts. "Did you hear what the Hat just said?" he whispered to his brother, but just when Tom looked up giving him a questioning look, the Hat quietened, and Professor Dumbledore began to call the new students from a long list.

'_This is boring_,' Harry thought as one after another the first years became sorted. Finally, Dumbledore called, "Poppy Pomfrey."

Shortly later, Poppy walked behind the group, smiling at Tom and Harry on her way to the Slytherin table. '_Poppy a Slytherin?_' Harry wondered. '_I had rather thought she'd end up in Hufflepuff_.'

"Harry Potter-Snape," Dumbledore continued, and Harry nervously took a seat on the stool, squinting in surprise when the Hat's large cramp covered his whole head, so that he could not see anything.

'_Ah, this is difficult_,' a high, pitchy voice suddenly penetrated his mind. '_You have connections to all four Houses. Where am I going to sort you?_'

'_Just let me be together with Tom and Poppy_,' Harry thought, looking up in shock when the small voice continued in an angrier tone, '_Why don't the students bother listening to me for once? They seem to think they know everything better anyway_.' The voice quietened, before the Sorting Hat called into the Hall, "Gryffindor."

'_Oh no_,' Harry thought sadly as he absentmindedly pulled the Hat off his head and walked over to the Gryffindor table in a daze. '_Not together with Poppy. I just hope that at least Tom will become sorted into Gryffindor as well_.'

However, Tom became a Slytherin, and to complete Harry's annoyance, as soon as he took a seat at the lions' table, he realised that Minerva had been sorted into Gryffindor as well. '_I'm just really lucky today_,' he thought in disappointment, before he was pulled out of his miserable thoughts when Oliver Stone, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain stepped behind him. "Harry, congratulations for becoming a Gryffindor. From now on, you're our Seeker."

The older students, who already knew Harry and his Seeking abilities, applauded, causing a small smile to appear on Harry's face. "Thank you so much for accepting me into the team," he said gratefully.

"We're glad to have you," Oliver said, smirking. "Are there any other good players among the first years, who played on your primary school team?"

Harry glanced around. Minerva was the only of their former classmates, who had become sorted into Gryffindor. '_Bad enough to have her in the same House, but on the Quidditch team?_' he mused, feeling very upset at the idea.

"Minerva played Chaser on our team," Harry told Oliver, inwardly groaning as a small voice at the back of his mind screamed, '_Why do you tell him at all?_'

Oliver looked over at Minerva. "Would you like..."

"Oliver, sit down," an older boy, whom Harry knew to be the new Head boy, instructed the fifth year in a stern voice. "You have several weeks to put your team together."

Seeing that Minerva nodded eagerly, the Quidditch captain quickly retreated to his seat, and the first years began to eat their dinner. After dinner, the Head boy led them to the Gryffindor common room, informing them that the password was 'Liquorice Wand'. Harry inwardly grinned upon hearing the password, recalling his parents' conversations about Dumbledore's sweet tooth. '_I'd love to go home and speak with Mum and Dad about the Sorting_,' he mused; however, he quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting to break the rules on his first evening as a student. He had just climbed into bed, when all of a sudden Misty popped up at his side.

"Master Harry," the small elf whispered in a soft voice, "I have a letter for you from Mistress Poppy and Master Tom." She smiled when Harry's eyes began to twinkle happily and handed him a small parchment.

'_Hi Harry,_

_We hope everything is all right with the lions. Let's meet at home tomorrow after the last afternoon class. We can do our homework together._

_Poppy and Tom_'

"Misty, please tell them Thanks and All right," Harry whispered, before he lay down and tried to sleep with a small smile playing on his lips, which intensified when he remembered that his father had told him that the Slytherins always had classes together with the Gryffindors.

時代を示す絨緞

The first weeks of the new school year passed uneventfully. Harry, Tom and Poppy noticed soon that their classes were relatively easy for them, because they had already learned easy charms and spells among other things at the primary school, while most of their classmates had either attended Muggle primary schools or had been home schooled.

"It's just a pity that we can't take Runes," Harry said in disappointment. "They could make it a selective class from first year onwards, and I'd also like to have Latin like we had in the past. It would help us with the names of spells and such."

"Also with those of herbs and potions," Poppy agreed. "You're lucky that you're able to spend the summers in the Founders' time. You have no idea how much I envy you."

Harry and Tom decided to ask their parents about Runes and possible Latin classes, and the Snapes agreed and discussed the matter with their colleagues.

時代を示す絨緞

A few days before the beginning of the winter holidays, Headmaster Dippet informed the four Heads of House, "Ronald Lupin agreed to become our Professor for our new Latin class from January onwards. Please inform your students accordingly and make them sign up for the class on the parchments that the elves will put up in the common rooms tomorrow morning."

'_Lupin_,' Severus thought in shock, before he told himself, '_Well, there is no need to panic. Ronald must be Remus' grandfather, and of course he is not a werewolf nor does he know that his grandson is going to be one. That reminds me that I need to begin trying to find a wolfscure using Salazar's notes, even if Remus Lupin is only going to come here in about forty years' time_.' He was pulled out of his thoughts when the meeting ended and everyone headed out onto the Quidditch pitch to watch the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match.

Severus let out a long sigh as he remembered how the match in the previous year had ended with the students of both House teams hexing each other, so that all fourteen players had to spend the whole weekend in the hospital wing. '_I just hope they're going to behave today, considering that both Harry and Tom are on the teams_,' he thought as he sat next to his wife, unobtrusively resting his hand on her belly to feel the two baby girls kick their mother.

"Don't worry, Sev.," Roxana whispered gently, sensing his uneasiness. "If anyone commences a fight, Poppy and Harry will make them stop instantly."

"That's true," Severus had to admit, although he could not help somehow having a bad feeling of foreboding.

時代を示す絨緞

'_I hate playing Quidditch against Tom and Poppy_,' Harry mused as he took into the air together with the Gryffindor team. It was a cold but sunny December morning with only a couple of small clouds far away towards the horizon. He flew higher than his team mates, waiting for Professor Dippet to release the Snitch. '_It should be easy to catch it in this weather_,' he thought; however, after mistaking the sunrays that were reflected from the goal posts and other parts of the pitch for the wings of the Snitch, he knew better. Two hours into the game, he was still searching for the hiding, golden ball.

'_There!_' he suddenly thought. '_That's not the sun for once_.' Knowing that the Slytherin Seeker was on his heels and seemed to be watching his every move, Harry went into a deep dive until he was a few seconds above the ground, before he quickly turned his broom and shot upwards, unaware of what was happening in the teachers' stands.

"Harry," Roxana uttered in horror as she observed her son's dive, before she suddenly gripped her stomach in pain.

"Roxana? Are you all right?" Severus queried, looking at his wife in concern.

"No," Roxana moaned. "Take us to the hospital wing quickly."

Fortunately, Theresa was sitting not far away, and her schooled healer's eyes noticed what was happening, before Severus could do as much as pull his emergency Portkey out of his robe pocket. Hurrying to her colleague, she pressed Roxana's hand against the ring on her left hand and uttered the password. Severus looked at the empty spot in shock, just when everyone began to cheer, because Harry had caught the Snitch.

"It's all right, Severus, go after them," Dumbledore, who was sitting on his other side, said gently. "I will speak with your little snakes. Go and check on your wife and children. They need you now."

The Snitch tucked firmly in his hand, Harry happily descended; however, the instant he put his feet on the ground, he saw his father storm away from the pitch. '_Where is he going? And where is Mum?_' he wondered, knowing that his parents were always among the first to come and congratulate him after a match.

"Well done Harry," Tom's voice brought him back to reality, "even if Slytherin lost because of you."

"I'm sorry," Harry replied, smiling broadly at his brother.

"Are you crazy?" Poppy's voice suddenly penetrated his ears, sounding very upset. "I thought you were going to crash into the ground. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" She pulled Harry into a bear's hug.

"I'm sorry," Harry stammered, turning his eyes to the girl in surprise. "It's all right, Poppy," he added, seeing that she seemed clearly shocked. "I knew exactly what I was doing."

"Where are Mum and Dad?" Tom asked, as surprised as Harry that their parents were absent.

"Let's go away from here," Harry said quietly, pulling Tom and Poppy away from the cheering Gryffindors around them. "I think something bad happened with Mum and the twins," he said thoughtfully.

"But then Granny wouldn't be here," Poppy said reassuringly, pointing to her grandmother, who was just stepping over to the trio.

"Harry and Tom," Theresa addressed the boys, "Your parents are at St. Mungo's at the moment."

"Why? Are they all right?" Tom asked in concern, looking at the healer in shock.

"They just want to make sure that the twins are all right," Theresa said soothingly. "Your mother wasn't feeling well earlier."

'_It must be really bad if they had to go to the hospital_,' Harry mused, knowing that normally everyone was treated in the hospital wing if it was not an emergency.

"Granny, can Tom and Harry come home with me?" Poppy asked softly, noticing that her two friends were beside themselves with worry.

"Of course, if you don't want to attend the Quidditch parties in your Houses?" Theresa replied, laying her arms around Tom's and Harry's shoulders.

"Without Poppy and Tom it's no fun," Harry replied in a small voice. "Can we go to St. Mungo's?"

"No Harry, that's not possible. If your father doesn't come back within the next few hours, I'll go and see what is happening, so that I can inform you," Theresa promised as they slowly walked towards her quarters.

時代を示す絨緞

It was about three hours later that Severus stepped into Poppy's room, where the three friends were quietly talking. Harry noticed immediately that his father was even paler than usual and asked in concern, "Dad, are Mum and the twins all right?"

Severus cast him a small smile. "Yes Harry, they are all right. However, it was a very close call for all three of them, especially for your mother. She had a very rare problem, and they had to take the twins out in an emergency operation, but fortunately, everything went well. The girls are still a bit small due to being born two weeks too early, and they are not yet able to drink milk, because they swallowed a lot of blood and can only stomach tea. They're very cute though. Both of them have black hair and blue eyes."

"Most babies have blue eyes, but they change within the first year," Poppy informed them eagerly.

"Are they still in the hospital?" Tom asked and impatiently added, "Can we go and see them?"

"They must stay in the hospital at least until tomorrow, before they can be moved to the hospital wing here," Severus said, sighing. "But you may visit them now if you promise to be quiet and behave yourselves." Seeing that Poppy looked very disappointed, he added, "Poppy, you're welcome to join us if you wish."

"I'd love to go. Thank you so much," Poppy replied, smiling happily.

"Oh Dad," Harry suddenly remembered to ask, "Did you decide on names?"

Severus smirked. "Well, since I had to fill in the parchments, while Roxana was in the OP, I decided to go with your suggestions and named them Helga and Rowena."

"Dad, did you take the unicorns for them with you when you went to the hospital?" Tom queried.

"No Tom, we had to leave very quickly, and it was essential that we managed to get to the hospital on time. We can go home and fetch them now," Severus replied, before he exchanged a few words with Theresa, who was unable to accompany them, because the hospital wing was full with students.

It had been Harry's idea to give their sisters stuffed unicorns for their first birthday, and both Harry and Tom had pestered Roxana weeks ago to conjure the unicorns for them and charm them, so that they would change their colour if someone touched their belly and play a nursery song if the baby looked into their eyes.

時代を示す絨緞

"They are very tiny," Tom said, sounding slightly disappointed at the sight of the babies.

"What did you expect? That you could play Quidditch with them?" Poppy queried in disbelief, cooing happily at the babies.

'_They are small, but they're adorable_,' Harry thought, unable to take his eyes off the two small bundles that were fast asleep on both sides of their mother. Severus motioned the children to take a seat, before he carefully laid the babies into his sons' arms. "This is Helga," he informed them proudly, pointing to the baby in Harry's arm. "And this is Rowena."

"Dad," Harry said, frowning, "how in the world can you know who is who? They look absolutely identical."

Severus pointed to the bracelets around the tiny arms. One was pink, and the other was blue. "I hope one of them is going to get your mother's eyes and the other mine," he added, smirking.

時代を示す絨緞

The remaining few days until the beginning of the winter holidays dragged along seemingly infinitely, at least for Harry, Tom and Poppy, who could not wait having the twins around and helping Roxana care for them all day. Roxana was glad that the boys and Poppy helped her whenever they could, especially as she was still shocked by the sudden events around the twins' birth and realised that it was exhausting to get up several times every night, feeding two hungry mouths in spite of being incredibly tired all the time. Harry and Tom felt very proud to be big brothers and were both very fond of the twins.

時代を示す絨緞

Too soon for their liking, the holidays were over, and the trio became busy again with homework and also Quidditch practice. As much as Harry loved flying, he groaned inwardly, when Oliver announced that he wanted to hold additional training sessions in the mornings in order to win the Quidditch cup. "We already won against Slytherin, Hufflepuff and one of the primary school teams, so we only have to play against Ravenclaw and the younger primary school team. Can we win that?"

"Yes we can," the team members replied, seemingly annoyed at their captain's enthusiasm.

During the following months, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was out on the grounds every day, even in the snow and when it rained cats and dogs, unaware that the match against Ravenclaw threatened to become a disaster in spite of their intense practice.

The day, which Harry would never forget in his life, was a cold and windy day at the beginning of April. Dark clouds were hanging low in the sky, making the search for the Snitch an extremely complicated task.

As usual, Harry barely paid attention to what was happening further down, where his team members were eagerly fighting in order to collect as many points as possible before he would end the match. Only once every few minutes, he looked at the score board in order to avoid catching the Snitch if the other team was more than 150 points ahead. '_180 – 180_' he read, groaning in annoyance when it began to rain yet again. '_Maybe I should just try to summon the Snitch_,' he mused as he continued to feverishly search for the small ball with the beautiful golden wings. Finally, he spotted the Snitch, only to realise in disappointment that it had been a flash of lightning in the thunderstorm that seemed to come nearer by the minute.

Suddenly, he heard shrieks and shouts just below himself, and when he looked down, he saw that one of the red Gryffindor figures was steadily tumbling down towards the ground. '_What happened?_' he thought, terrified. '_Oh no, I must do something_.' Knowing that he was the one with the most experience in fast dives, he rushed towards the ground, feverishly pondering how he could catch his teammate, before they were both going to crash into the ground. He heard a thunder, quickly followed by another flash of lightning that made seem the ground even nearer than it was. He heard his mother shout for him. '_But that can't be. She is supposed to be at home with the twins_,' he thought just as he passed his teammate, who was still tumbling down helplessly. A mere instant before crashing into the ground, he transformed into a thick mattress in order to softly catch the other, preventing him or her from the impact.

Unfortunately, even in his mattress form, he hit the ground full force and felt a sharp pain in his head, before everything turned black as unconsciousness engulfed him.

時代を示す絨緞

When Harry's mind slowly turned back to awareness, his head hurt so badly that he could not open his eyes. A soft voice, which he was not able to recognise, told him, "It's all right, Harry. Madam Pomfrey will help you shortly."

The next thing he knew was that he felt the Healer's magic run up and down his body. "Is everyone all right?" he asked, suddenly remembering what had happened.

"Everyone but you is all right," Pomfrey informed him. "You have a concussion from the impact with the ground."

"But you saved my life," the voice that had spoken to him earlier informed him. "Thank you very much."

Noticing that the pain in his head receded as Pomfrey spelled a potion into his system, Harry slowly opened his eyes that widened at the scene in front of him. Minerva was sitting on the edge of his bed, the crib with his three and a half months old baby sisters next to her. '_What is she doing in Tom's and my room?_' he thought instinctively, before she explained, "Your parents allowed me to keep you company, while they and your brother are in class. I hope you don't mind."

"Otherwise, I would have taken you with me," Pomfrey added sternly. "You have been unconscious for three days."

Apparently misinterpreting the silence resulting from Harry's surprise, Minerva rose from the edge of his bed and said, "I'm sorry for intruding. I'll leave now."

"No," Harry said, reaching for her arm to stop her. "Don't go." He took a deep breath to win a few seconds, during which he thought, '_This is the chance to make up with her_.' "Please stay and tell me what happened during the match. Why exactly were you falling? Normally, you're a very good flyer."

"Very well then," Pomfrey said, pushing Minerva back onto the edge of Harry's bed. "I'm going to take the twins with me. They're going to be hungry shortly, and Harry still needs his rest."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, glancing at Poppy's grandmother. "I can..."

"No, you can't," Theresa said firmly and left the room with the babies in their crib floating in front of her.

"Thank you Harry," Minerva said in a small voice. "There was the lightning, and I somehow became distracted... and maybe afraid... I don't know, but I lost grip on my broom and fell. I thought I was going to die, but then you came and all of a sudden, I found myself on a soft mattress." She hesitantly laid her hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry that you got hurt trying to save my life."

"It's all right," Harry replied, smiling. "I'm glad that I managed to catch you on time. What day is it?"

Minerva smiled back. "Today it's Wednesday."

"You're missing classes," Harry said, sighing.

"That's all right, Harry. Your parents are so kind and collect our assignments from the other teachers, and Tom is taking notes for us, so that we can catch up easily," Minerva replied in a soft voice.

Harry cleared his throat to gather his courage, before he hesitantly asked, "Would you like to study together?"

_tbc..._


	9. Chapter 9

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

* * *

**Chapter 9**

'_Hell must be freezing over if Tom is willingly taking notes for Mi_nerva,' Harry thought in disbelief. '_Anyway, I just hope we'll be able to get along with Minerva in the future. I hate fighting with people_.'

"We can study together," Minerva replied reluctantly. "Are you sure that Tom won't mind though? He was not very pleased when your father ordered him to take notes not only for you but also for me."

Harry smirked. "Don't worry. He'll come around eventually, and Poppy is studying with us anyway."

In fact, Tom was surprised when he realised that Harry and Minerva suddenly seemed to get along and even more, when Harry announced that he was going to bring Minerva home to study together with him and Poppy as soon as he was allowed back to class. However, knowing how much it meant to his brother to get along with everyone and how lonely Harry had felt in Gryffindor ever since their Sorting, he decided to accept Harry's decision without as much as a frown.

時代を示す絨緞

A few days later, Severus entered the Headmaster's office, together with Roxana and the other Heads of House, wondering what could be so pressing that Professor Dippet summoned them before their afternoon classes. '_I'd rather go and check on Harry than having chitchat with my colleagues_,' he thought in annoyance.

When the Headmaster sat at his desk, Severus saw that a second person was present, standing behind Dippet. '_That's Hagrid at a very young age_,' he realised in surprise. '_I completely forgot about him, but of course, he is attending Hogwarts at the same time as Tom_.'

"I am sorry to disturb you in the middle of the day," Headmaster Dippet began to speak, a grave expression on his face. "This morning, one of our primary school pupils, eight-year-old Rubeus Hagrid, came to me and told me that he met Professor Trelawney out on the grounds on his way to the school this morning. According to Rubeus, she was in kind of a trance and spoke to him in a strange voice. I'd like you to watch his memory in my Pensieve."

'_Oh no, not another prophecy please_,' Severus thought, '_especially not from a Trelawney. Sibyl's grandmother was still famous in the future, so her prophecies might be accurate, even if I don't believe in predictions._'

Severus and his three colleagues entered the Pensieve and watched the child, who was more the size of a seventh year Hogwarts student than a primary school pupil, meet the Divination teacher.

_**(Beginning of memory)**_

"Good morning," Rubeus said politely, wondering if she was a professor.

"Good morning my boy," the Divination professor replied kindly, before her voice suddenly changed to a groan.

'_She is strange. What's wrong with her?_' Rubeus thought, when the professor's groan began to form to words.

"Woven in the temporal tapestry

The changeling shall undo the woven threads

Shapechanger childe marked by evil

Assuming forms not of his nature

Shall vanquish the evildoer by deceit

Evil shall be undone by the slight of hand."

The professor became quiet and her features straightened. Looking at Rubeus in confusion, she uttered an apology and quickly made her way towards the main school. When Rubeus turned to the primary school, the memory ended.

_(End of memory)_

As soon as they left the Pensieve, Dumbledore pointed his wand at an empty parchment, where the words uttered by Trelawney appeared in his own accurate hand writing.

"This seems to be a prophecy," Headmaster Dippet said thoughtfully, letting his eyes wander over his colleagues in silent question.

"Harry," Severus said, terrified, turning the words of the prophecy over and over in his head. "It is evident that he is meant by the time travelling shape shifter. But who might be the 'evildoer'?"

Dumbledore let out a long sigh as he slowly popped a lemon-drop into his mouth. "The only really dark wizard I know, and I suppose that it must be him, to whom the prophecy is pointing, is Gellert Grindelwald, a former friend of myself. He has always been talking about 'Wizard supremacy for the greater good of the world'. If I'm not mistaken, he even has his own prison, where he keeps his enemies. He is also the one who killed my sister Ariana many years ago."

"This sounds plausible enough," Dippet said thoughtfully. "Grindelwald is the one I have in mind as well, and it is indeed obvious that Harry is meant here as well. Albus and Severus, I need your cooperation to think about a strategy. For the time being, I suggest that you don't speak with Harry about the matter."

'_I thought we had saved Harry from a prophecy, only to end up with another prediction?_' Severus thought in annoyance as he returned to his classroom. '_Oh well, at least this time he is not left with the Dursleys but has a family, and we'll hopefully be able to help him_.'

時代を示す絨緞

Unaware of the content of the newest prophecy, Harry spent the following months until the end of the school year feeling extremely happy. Even if he was fairly busy with homework, Quidditch practice and helping his mother with his baby sisters, he thoroughly enjoyed himself. The former inseparable trio was now a quartet, and not only Harry but also Poppy and Tom were glad to have Minerva in their midst, especially since they realised soon that her unfriendly behaviour had only been due to uncertainty.

"The three of you don't even know how lucky you are," Minerva said as they had tea together in the Snape's living room after the last Quidditch match of the year. "I wished I could remain at Hogwarts over the summer as well."

"Maybe you can visit us, Minnie," Poppy suggested. "My granny will surely agree, and I'm sure we're going to have much fun."

"If not you can always stay with us," Harry added, smiling, before he corrected himself, "at least during the last four weeks. The first half of the holidays, we're going to be away."

Minerva sighed deeply. "It's not that easy," she admitted in a small voice. "My mother died a few years ago, and my father has a new girlfriend, who is a Muggle, and since he moved in with her, I'm not even allowed to live in my own room at McGonagall Manor anymore."

"Write to your father and ask him then," Poppy said softly, laying her arm around her friend's back.

"Thank you Poppy," Minerva said gratefully, before she turned to Harry. "Harry, can you teach me how to become an Animagus?" she asked eagerly. "I'd love to be able to transform into a cat."

Harry gave her a thoughtful look, while his friends began to chuckle. "Minerva, I don't think that's very easy," Poppy said warningly. "Only last week, one of the seventh years came to see granny after transforming half of his body into a weasel. The upper part of his body was human, and he could neither completely transform nor change back. Harry is not a normal case. He is a natural shape shifter." Casting the other girl a stern look, she demanded, "Minnie, promise me that you won't try at home on your own. We can practise together when you're back at Hogwarts. I'd love to become an Animagus, too."

"So would I," Tom threw in, excitedly. "Do you think it would be possible to change into any animal?"

"I think so," Harry said, looking at Tom and Poppy in expectation.

時代を示す絨緞

To the four friends' delight, Poppy's grandmother spoke with Minerva's father, who admitted that it might probably be for the best if Minerva was able to remain at Hogwarts over the summer, provided that he would be able to occasionally visit her or meet her at Hogsmeade. In the end, Theresa gained the temporary guardianship over Minerva for the duration of the summer holidays.

"I'm glad to have you here," Poppy said happily, before she turned to the boys. "When are you going to leave?"

"Probably as soon as the students have left," Harry replied, glancing at Tom, who nodded affirmatively.

"Where are you going to go?" Minerva asked curiously, causing the boys to exchange a quick look.

"That's a long story," Tom responded, sighing, and explained about their connection to the Founders and the Tapestry of Time.

"Is that really true?" Minerva queried in disbelief, before she added thoughtfully, "That makes sense though. Do you remember that I looked into Harry's book a few years ago? I mean when you transformed into a book, Harry. It told the story of the Founders..."

"The book tells my own story," Harry said in a small voice. "Ceridwen is a good friend of us and the first friend I ever had."

"Do you know how much I envy you?" Minerva asked, looking from Harry to Tom. "I'd love to meet the Founders, especially Professor Gryffindor."

"Whom do you like most?" Poppy asked, interestedly.

"Professor Slytherin is the most interesting I think," Tom said thoughtfully. "Although I'm not so fond of brewing potions."

"He is also the funniest," Harry added, chuckling. "He taught me lots of joke potions and pranks. Unfortunately, I barely have the opportunity to use any of them here."

"I'd love to get to know Professor Hufflepuff," Poppy said enthusiastically. "She is the Healer in her time, isn't she? Granny has a portrait of her in her office, and she always talks about how everything was different in the past and gives her advice when the students don't do what she tells them."

"Maybe you can come with us," Harry suggested. "Let's go and ask my parents."

After a longer discussion between the four friends and the boys' parents, Roxana and Severus agreed to try taking the two girls with them through the tapestry, provided that Theresa would allow them to travel with the Snapes.

時代を示す絨緞

'_How could I be so stupid and behaved like a bitch towards them, just because I was jealous of them for having each other as well as parents, who live and work in the magical world?_' Minerva thought, feeling incredibly stupid. '_Thank Merlin I became friends with them. I can't wait to travel to the Founders' time. Maybe Professor Gryffindor can teach us how to become an Animagus. In 'Hogwarts: A History' it says that he was a phoenix Animagus_.'

時代を示す絨緞

'_This will be such a hassle to travel with the twins_," Roxana mused as she changed her daughters' nappies, '_even if Helga and Rowena are there and surely willing to help if we have problems. Rowena will love to have them for a few weeks_.'

時代を示す絨緞

'_I hope Rowena will be able to either confirm or deny Trelawney's prophecy. She might be able to have a clearer vision than the old bat like she had in the case with the Dark Lord. However, why did she never, ever speak about Grindelwald before?_' Severus wondered as he strode through the deserted Slytherin chambers to check if the students had not forgotten any of their belongings.

時代を示す絨緞

Harry and Tom were sitting on Tom's bed, feverishly trying to recall what they had learned two years ago, when they had been in the past for the last time.

"I can't wait to see Moonlight. I just hope she'll remember me and allow me to ride on her," Harry said thoughtfully.

"She surely will," Tom said absentmindedly. "Harry, I think you should try to invent a few joke potions with Professor Slytherin, which we can use when we're back here. And I really hope that he'll finally show me his pet this time."

時代を示す絨緞

'_Maybe Professor Hufflepuff will be willing to share some healing spells with me_,' Poppy mused. '_According to her portrait, everything must be very different in her time_.' "What?" she asked absentmindedly. "Yes Granny, I promise that we will behave."

時代を示す絨緞

An hour later, the six Snapes as well as Poppy and Minerva were standing in front of the tapestry. Roxana and Severus were each carrying one of the twins, and Severus instructed Poppy to tightly hold on to Roxana's arm, which he held out his right arm for Minerva. "Tom and Harry, you will go ahead," he told his sons, motioning the boys to take each other's hands and travel together.

Harry and Tom complied; however, when the fast movement of the time travel stopped and they took in their surroundings, Tom backed up in fright, while Harry vanished from the sight.

Roxana and Poppy were the next to arrive, and they quickly stepped over to the side of the room, where Helga and Rowena were just greeting a frightened Tom. "Where is Harry?" Roxana asked in concern, looking at the scene in front of her in disbelief.

Two baboons were running around the room, one of them trying to catch the other. Just when Severus stepped out of the fireplace together with Minerva and with Baby Helga in his arm, the baboons began to fight, causing the Potions Master to trip over the scuffling parties.

"Rowena!" Helga shouted, jumping forward to catch Baby Helga. "Would you please now finally transfigure them back?"

"I'm sorry. Is she all right?" Rowena asked in concern, cooing to the baby.

"Oh my, they're so cute," Helga said, beginning to fawn over the babies as well.

Severus elegantly rose from the floor, shaking his head as realisation set in. "What did they do to earn their punishment?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow at his sister-in-law."

"They played a prank on the students," Rowena explained. "Everyone had to travel home in the form of house-elves."

"But they have been in their baboons' forms ever since the students left this morning, and they haven't been doing anything but fighting," Helga said sternly.

"Where is Harry?" Severus asked in surprise, wiping a small spider from his arm.

'That was me,' a small voice penetrated his mind, causing him to regret his action immediately. Quickly pulling his wand, he stunned the baboons, before he said, "Harry, change back immediately."

Everyone looked up in surprise, when Harry suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nothing. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Hello Aunt Helga, Aunt Rowena. I was just a bit shocked by the monkeys. I'm sorry for transforming."

"Harry, that was absolutely brilliant," Minerva blurted out, looking at her friend in amazement.

"I am sorry. I didn't even introduce you," Severus suddenly realised and began to introduce Minerva, Poppy and the babies to the Founders, while Rowena finally transfigured Godric and Salazar back.

時代を示す絨緞

From the following morning onwards, Godric and Salazar tried their best to get revenge on Rowena and Helga, provoking a mutual prank war, which involved potions, charms and Transfiguration spells and lasted several weeks. Since the two wizards pulled Harry and Tom onto their side, Minerva, Poppy and Ceridwen automatically joined Helga's and Rowena's side.

"These are the best holidays ever," Tom said when the five friends were spread out next to the lake, a week before they had to return to the future, and his friends agreed immediately.

"We already really learned a lot, even outside of classes," Harry agreed, chuckling as he thought of the diary, which he had been keeping together with Tom to take notes of all the pranks, which they intended to repeat in the future.

"I still hope Slytherin is going to keep his promise and show us his pet," Tom said, impatiently. "I don't know why he is making such a secret about it."

"What kind of animal is it?" Minerva asked with interest, causing Harry to chuckle.

"What?" Minerva queried, giving him a sharp look.

"Sorry, I was just thinking that ever since Professor Gryffindor began to teach the four of you the Animagus transformation, you're really interested in animals," Harry said, smiling.

"Let's go and ask Slytherin," Tom said decisively, jumping up from the ground.

時代を示す絨緞

"Of course," Salazar said, putting the potion he was just brewing under a stasis charm. He led the five friends through Helga's and his quarters into their bathroom, causing the five students to exchange surprised looks. "I'm sorry, but this is the shortest and easiest way, although there are two others," he explained, seeing the astonished expressions.

The friends followed the Founder downstairs through a narrow stone staircase, listening in expectation as he told them about his sweet pet, Amaterasu. "Don't worry," he finally said, "Amaterasu is very big, but she is absolutely harmless. Once a year, I have to cast a charm at her, which changes her eyes' colour from yellow to white; otherwise, it would be deadly for people to look into her eyes. She is a basilisk."

"A basilisk?" Minerva, Ceridwen and Poppy let out a collective gasp, and the three girls remained behind Harry and Tom as they slowly stepped into a large room.

"This is my Chamber of Secrets," Salazar explained. "Not only Amaterasu is living here, but I have a library here as well as a potions lab." Suddenly, his voice changed as he spoke in Parseltongue, "Amaterasssu, come here pleasse, I brought visitorsss."

An enormously long, black figure majestically slithered into the room, causing the students to look at her with a mixture of anxiousness and amazement. "It's good to have visitorsss. Not many people come here to see usss," she hissed in a soft voice, slightly moving her head towards the ground as if she was bowing in front of the small group.

"Hello Amaterasssu," Harry replied, causing everyone to stare at him in surprise.

"Harry, what did you just say?" Minerva asked, clearly shocked.

"I said Hello Amaterasu. Why?" Harry queried, astonished.

"Because we couldn't understand you," Poppy informed him in a small voice. "Apparently, you were talking in snake language."

"Parseltongue," Salazar corrected her, smiling at the girl. "Tom, could you understand Amaterasu and Harry?" Seeing Tom nod, he explained, "Harry and Tom are my descendants and as such probably capable of speaking Parseltongue."

Salazar and the five students spent a while in the Founder's chambers, before they said Good-bye to Amaterasu and returned to the main part of the castle.

"Professor," Tom asked hesitantly, "how long do basilisks live? Do you think she will still be there in our time?"

Salazar remained thoughtful for a few minutes. Only when they arrived back in the living room, he said pensively, "If nothing happens to her, she should still be alive nearly one thousand years in the future. However, if you go and visit her, you must keep your eyes closed until you have managed to cast the charm at her that changes her eyes. She knows about the matter, so you can ask her if the charm worked." He gave the boys a sharp look. "I'd appreciate if you could check on her and see if everything is all right."

"We'll do that..."

"... as soon as we're back in the future," Tom and Harry promised.

"Maybe I should change my plans and try to become a basilisk Animagus," Tom said later the same evening, when Harry and he were getting ready for bed.

Harry pondered the matter for a minute, before he replied, "Tom, I wouldn't do that. You don't have to become a snake Animagus, because you can speak and understand Parseltongue anyway, and I think becoming a snake would even be more difficult. I like your form, and I hope you're going to be able to transform soon. Just think about what we're going to be able to do when you succeed."

"That's true," Tom agreed, chuckling, and the two boys began to make plans, until Severus entered the room to say good-night.

"We forgot to ask him about two things," Harry suddenly spoke up after their father had left.

"And what is that?" Tom asked tiredly, already drifting off to sleep.

"We forgot to ask him to show us the potions lab," Harry said quietly. "I'm sure Dad would be very interested to see it, especially since it might still be accessible in our time. And we also need him to teach us the charm that makes it safe for us to visit Amaterasu."

"That's true," Tom agreed, "and I'd like to ask him about the other entrances."

When the Snapes returned to the future a week later, Tom and Harry insisted on going to see if Amaterasu was still alive in Salazar's secret chambers, and Minerva and Poppy grudgingly agreed to accompany them.

"I'll go ahead and cast the charm on her," Tom offered, and Harry immediately agreed, knowing that Tom was much better at Charms than himself. A few minutes later, he returned to the stairs to fetch the others. "It's all right. I cast the charm and it worked."

"Is Amaterasu all right?" Poppy was the first to ask, causing Tom to grin.

"She seems fine, although I didn't take the time to talk with her as I wanted to fetch you," he said, and the four friends hurriedly descended into the chamber.

時代を示す絨緞

"Ah, more visitorsss," Amaterasu hissed in a friendly voice. "I missssed you. I wasss so lonely here all these yearssss since my friend Salazzzar wasss here."

'_Oh no, I believe that immediately_,' Harry thought. '_If no one came to see her for more than nine hundred years, she must have been very lonely_.' White Harry translated for Poppy and Minerva, Tom spoke with the basilisk, who complained that it was too cold in the chamber. "Salazzzar alwayssss kept the fireplacccce warm and comfy for me," she told the friends.

"Let's see if we can light the fireplace for her," Minerva suggested, and the small group headed to the small living room, where Amaterasu happily curled up in front of the enormous fireplace.

Seeing that the basilisk happily drifted off to sleep, the four friends explored Salazar's huge library and the potions lab, only to notice that both of them looked very much how they remembered it from the time of the Founders. Half of the shelves in the potions lab were full with ancient ingredients, and Harry looked at them in amazement.

"They're still fresh," he said in disbelief.

"Yeah, they must be under a conservation charm," Tom said, not less impressed. "We need to bring Dad here. He will be so excited."

"Excited?" Minerva asked, chuckling. "Sorry, but I just can't imagine Professor Snape being excited."

Harry shot her a short glare. "He won't openly show his emotions, but he'll definitely be excited at this sight."

Minerva had to agree when they spent the afternoon in the lab together with Severus and the always correct professor absentmindedly called her Minerva instead of the usual Miss McGonagall.

"This must be a paradise for your father," she whispered to Harry, who smiled and nodded in understanding.

時代を示す絨緞

The four friends' second Hogwarts year passed fairly uneventfully. Every afternoon after their last class, they met in Harry's and Tom's room and worked on their homework, taking turns helping Roxana with the twins, who seemed to become cuter by the day, especially when they began to run around and talk. Helga and Rowena absolutely adored their big brothers, who would do everything for a smile from the babies.

Everything seemed perfect, before Severus called Tom and Harry into his office one Sunday morning at the end of the school year.

_tbc..._


	10. Chapter 10

**The Tapestry of Time - by teddylonglong **

_Please refer to the content/warnings/disclaimer note above page 1. _

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Severus thoughtfully cleared his throat, apparently feeling uncomfortable at the situation.

"Harry, Tom, there is something I wish to speak with you about," he began to explain. "This is about a wizard with the name Gellert Grindelwald. Professor Dumbledore knows him well, although their opinions concerning the magical and non magical world differ completely. I will explain about Grindelwald's theories at a later time. I just want you to know that he is on the dark side. The main point of which I wish to inform you today is that together with Professors Dippet and Dumbledore, I have made a plan how to conquer this evil wizard in order to prevent him from pulling our whole country into a war. In order to achieve this, it's essential that he notices me and makes me his Potions Master." Seeing that his two sons were following him with confused but curious expressions, he continued, "I will brew Professor Slytherin's wolfscure potion and sell it to the Ministry of Magic as my own invention from Professor Slytherin's notes. This is not one hundred percent correct, and frankly speaking I do not appreciate having to lie like this; however, it is important for our plan."

"Of course we won't tell anyone anything else," Tom threw in, bewildered that their father had deemed it necessary to speak with them about the matter at all.

"Of course," Harry echoed.

Severus laid both hands around the boys' heads and smiled. "Tom and Harry, I know that. The reason why I've told you this is not that I don't completely trust you. On the contrary; since both of you are capable of brewing the wolfscure, I decided to publish it under our three names, if you agree, especially since the Ministry will probably demand that I brew a huge number of batches for them, and I thought that you might be willing to assist." He stepped around to face the boys, clearing his throat to win a few seconds, before he had to tell his sons the inevitable. "Professors Dippet and Dumbledore suggested that I should keep this from the two of you because of your young age; however, I deem you old and especially responsible enough to hear the truth. In fact, a prophecy was made a few months ago, and we believe that it concerns Harry."

Harry and Tom listened in shock when Severus told them about the content of Professor Trelawney's prediction.

"_Woven in the temporal tapestry  
The changeling shall undo the woven threads  
Shapechanger childe marked by evil  
Assuming forms not of his nature  
Shall vanquish the evildoer by deceit  
Evil shall be undone by the slight of hand."_

"Are you sure that it means me?" Harry finally asked, sounding terrified.

"I'm afraid so, yes," Severus replied quietly.

'_Thank Merlin that we could speak with Rowena about the matter, and that she could advise us what to do_,' Severus thought. '_I really feel bad for Harry. We came to this time in order to make the future prophecy unnecessary, only to be trapped in another prediction._'

"Dad," Harry's voice pulled him out of his musings. "May we speak with Minerva and Poppy about it?"

"You may," Severus replied without hesitating, knowing that he could fully trust the two young witches. '_I wonder if Harry remembers at all that we came more than fifty years into the past,' _he thought_. 'Sometimes, it is strange that the boys remember things, which happened a few years ago and are not really important, while they have forgotten things from last year, which we thought they'd keep in mind forever_.'

時代を示す絨緞

However, if Harry and Tom had expected that Harry would have to fulfil the prophecy sometime in the near future, the boys were completely mistaken. During the following years, the magical world remained fairly peaceful, and most people in Britain's wizarding world had not even heard the name Grindelwald yet.

The invention of the wolfscure potion was the huge success that Severus and the Founders had expected, and Severus, Harry and Tom each received the Order of Merlin first class for their achievement. At the same time, Severus once again took the Potions Mastery exam and like in the future became known as the youngest Potions Master of all times.

As Severus had predicted, the three Snapes were asked to brew a huge amount of batches of their wolfscure potion, which he and his sons brewed during the summer after Harry's and Tom's third Hogwarts year. The Ministry of Magic bought the potion for one thousand Galleons per phial and invited all werewolves in Britain to come to St. Mungo's in order to be cured from Lycanthropy.

_'Thank Merlin, Lupin probably won't become a werewolf this time,'_ Severus thought, unbeknownst to Harry and Tom. The boys were just totally in awe about the huge amount of money that wandered into their vault and completely unaware of their father's former experiences with a werewolf and thus of the special meaning that their achievement had for Severus.

時代を示す絨緞

It was almost two years later, when the children had taken their OWLs and were just enjoying the Leaving Feast, that Severus suddenly received a letter, which was delivered by a black hawk.

_'I can't wait to travel back to the past,'_ Harry mused, absentmindedly pushing a carrot around his plate, when Minerva suddenly kicked him into the shins.

"Harry, look at your father. Have you ever seen such a bird?" she whispered, pointing towards the Head table.

"No," Harry whispered back and mind thought to his father, 'Dad, what's that for a bird? Is everything all right?'

However, his father did not reply immediately but fed the bird a few pieces of meat, before he waved his hand over the parchment, which the bird had brought, a few times, as if he was checking it for dark spells. Seemingly contented, he finally unfolded the parchment and read what was written on it, a blank expression on his face.

'It's from Grindelwald. He wants me to become his personal Potions Master,' he telepathically informed his son, while he pocketed the parchment in an inner pocket of his dark green robes.

'Wow, congrats Dad. That's what you wanted, right?' Harry replied, smiling.

'Indeed son,' Severus admitted, 'however, you mustn't speak about this to anyone apart Tom or your mother.'

'Minerva and Poppy know about it anyway,' Harry thought back, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

Ever since the Snapes had taken Minerva and Poppy with them to the past for the first time, it had become a tradition that the two girls accompanied their best friends to the time of the Founders, so that they were fully informed about Rowena Ravenclaw's visions and the prophecy that involved Harry.

時代を示す絨緞

Two days later, Poppy, Minerva, Harry and Tom were gathered in the Snape's living room, working on their summer assignments, whilst helping the six-year-old twins doing a puzzle of Hogwarts at the same time, when the black hawk entered their quarters through the owl flap in the outer door that led to the teachers' herb garden at the backside of the castle.

Quirking an eyebrow, Severus carefully accepted the parchment that was attached to the hawk's foot, and thoroughly checked it for spells, before he read his letter. "He wants to see me tomorrow afternoon," he said, sighing as he handed the parchment to his wife.

"Dad, will you be all right?" Harry was the first to interrupt the silence that had spread in the room after Severus' announcement.

Even the twins were looking from one to the other, apparently sensing that something was not as usual.

Severus smirked, hiding his own feelings behind a blank mask. "Of course I'll be all right. I'm not going to fight him tomorrow. He's probably just going to ask me for some potions. Anyway, it'll be an easy task in comparison to my duties as a spy for the Dark Lord in my past," he added, more to himself than to the children, who stared at him in surprise.

_'The Dark Lord?'_ Harry wondered, only now realising that Severus had never told him much about his past in the future. _'Strange that he never went back to meet any friends in the future,'_ he thought. _'Does Tom even know that Dad and I originally came from the future? Probably not.'_ Glancing at his brother, he resolved to speak with his father about the matter at the next opportunity.

時代を示す絨緞

During the following weeks, Severus had to brew potions for Grindelwald every week. Once a week, usually on Sunday afternoons, the dark wizard expected him to come and deliver the requested concoctions.

"Dad, won't we go to the past at all this year?" Harry enquired one day two weeks into the holidays. So far, the four friends had only wondered about the matter but not pestered the adults, knowing that Severus had to be stressed enough by his new task of serving the evil wizard.

"Your mother and I have been discussing this for a few days," Severus replied slowly, "and decided that your mother will accompany all of you to the past, while I'm going to remain here to be available whenever he calls me."

"I really don't like this," Roxana disagreed. "Harry and Tom are old enough to travel alone with their friends, and the twins and I can just stay here for one summer. I don't want to leave you alone."

Severus smirked. "It's not as if I was really alone here in the castle, especially..." he replied, when his daughter Rowena interrupted him fiercely.

"Nooo..."

"We wanna go too," Helga immediately joined her protest, and the twins sent their mother a double glare.

"We'll go with Harry and Tom," they added, pouting.

Roxana let out a long sigh. "Well, if you're sure that you want to go even without me, I can just take you there and come back here. I'm sure that Aunt Rowena and Aunt Helga will be happy to have you there, if Tom and Harry help them looking after you." She glanced at Severus, who gave her a short nod in return.

"I'll also help," Poppy offered, smiling, and Minerva nodded eagerly.

時代を示す絨緞

On the following day, the six children travelled to the past, accompanied by Roxana, who stayed a few days, before she made her way back to the day, on which she had left. The Founders reassured her that they would look after the twins and at the same time make the four older students study.

"Thank you, Rowena. I really appreciate it. It means a lot to me that the children are able to spend at least the summer holidays here in the time, in which I've grown up," Roxana told her sister, pulling her into a light hug.

"Don't worry, Roxa, they'll be fine," Rowena replied, smiling. "I can understand that you want to return to Severus, although you can trust me. He'll be all right. Remember that we set up the whole connection to Grindelwald in order to allow Harry to vanquish him in a relatively secure way."

"Yes, I know," Roxana replied, "but I'm still worried."

"Roxana," Rowena said slowly, "are you really content living in the future?"

Roxana looked at her sister in apparent surprise. "Of course, Rowa. I have an awesome husband, four wonderful children and the position of the Charms professor here at Hogwarts. I am really happy. Nevertheless, coming here to this time means coming home, and as far as possible, I intend to come here every summer."

Harry smiled at the sisters' conversation. _'I always thought they didn't overly like each other, but it seems not so bad',_ he thought, as he observed his mother and his many times great grandmother, unbeknownst to the two witches. In fact, Harry had wanted to have some quiet time from his friends and sisters in order to think about something and had transformed into a small, black spider. He had just made himself comfortable at the wall in the living room, ready to lose himself in his musings about how to ask the centre of his attention if she wanted to become his girlfriend, when the two sisters had entered the room.

時代を示す絨緞

In the morning after Roxana left, Ceridwen, who had just taken her OWLs, proceeded to teach the two six-year-olds Easy Charms and Spells, which was a common subject for children of their age. At the same time, the four Founders gathered the four sixteen-year-olds in the Headmaster's office.

With mixed feelings, Harry followed his friends into the round office. Of course it was not the first time that he entered the office in the past, and he knew each of his great grandparents well; however, on this morning, the Founders looked very stern.

"Very well," Godric began to speak, "since all four of you have already finished your OWLs in the future, it's time for you to consider what you're going to do after taking your NEWTs. We'd like you to inform us of your plans, so that we can put up a proper study schedule for each of you for this summer."

The four time travellers glanced at each other. _'If I only knew that. What am I going to say?'_ Harry wondered, feeling the strong urge to transform into a random object in order to win time.

"I'm going to become the Healer at Hogwarts," Poppy was the first to speak up. "My granny said she'd still remain for a few years, until I'm really used to everything, and then she wants to retire."

Suddenly, pictures from the short time, which he had spent with Severus in the future, came into Harry's mind. _'Yes, Madam Pomfrey was the Healer then, Dumbledore the Headmaster, and there was the old lady with the burgundy robes,'_ he mused. _'Wasn't her name Minerva McGonagall? She was the one who gave me Hogwarts: A History.'_ "Minerva, are you going to become the Transfiguration professor?" he blurted out, glancing at his friend.

Minerva shot him a surprised look. "I don't know if it'll be possible, since Professor Dumbledore is already the Transfiguration professor in our time," she then said, hesitantly, "however, I'd love to teach Transfiguration, since it is my best subject, and I'd really like to become a professor at Hogwarts."

"Everyone seems to want to stay in the castle," Tom laughed. "I want to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, if the position will ever be vacant."

The Headmaster grinned. "Don't worry, my boy. I'm going to put up a new rule that if ever one of the Founders' heirs will be available for a post within Hogwarts, the Headmaster has to see to it that the person will receive the position, even if it means that another professor has to take his or her leave." Turning to his three colleagues, he queried, "Do you all share my opinion?"

Rowena, Helga and Salazar replied affirmatively, and Godric waved his hand over a parchment on his desk. Text appeared on the parchment, before it straightened for an instant and finally vanished into thin air. "There," Godric said, seemingly contentedly, "done. This rule has been filed in the book of rules, which is placed on the shelf, on which Sopho resides, the Sorting Hat." He pointed to a thick book with a dark blue cover right next to the Hat.

_'I've never noticed that book,'_ Harry mused in surprise, wondering, _'Has it always been there?' _He was pulled out of his thoughts, when the Headmaster addressed him.

"Harry? What would you like to do after your NEWTs?" Godric queried, as he rose from his seat and proceeded to stroke Fawkes' head.

"I don't know," Harry said in a small voice, once again resisting the urge to transform.

"You don't know?" Salazar sneered, turning his gaze at the boy in obvious disbelief. "After studying nine years at Hogwarts and spending as many summers here in our time, where my colleagues and I taught you, you just don't know what to do?"

"Well, my best subject is Potions, but since my father is already the Potions Professor..." Harry began to speak in a very upset voice, before he unsurely tailed off.

"Salazar," Helga threw in, soothingly placing a hand on her husband's arm. "Leave the boy in peace. He is only fifteen, and he still has time."

"Leo," Godric spoke to Harry with the nickname he used to call him ever since the boy's Sorting into Gryffindor, "I have a suggestion for you. Like Salazar pointed out, we've all been teaching you, since you came here for the first time. You know a lot about magic in our time. However, you've never taken any exams yet. You should take your OWLs and NEWTs here in this time and become a professor for a new subject, "Ancient Studies", in the future. How's that?"

"Oh, that would be awesome," Harry replied, feeling utterly relieved at the prospect of having an idea of what to do after finishing Hogwarts. So far he had never really thought about the matter, and the Founder's question had hit him totally unprepared. "But will I be able to take these exams without even attending classes in this time?"

Godric cleared his throat, before he said, thoughtfully, "We'll teach you while you're here, of course, and I suppose that you should be able to pass your OWLs at least in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Runes and Sword Fighting before you return to the future at the end of this summer."

"You'll fail your NEWTs though if you only study two month a year," Salazar threw in, sternly. "After taking your NEWTs in the future, you should spend a year here and attend the seventh year classes."

_tbc..._


End file.
